Reasons that we will always be friends.

You know me better than I know myself.

We bust out laughing and everyone looks at us like we're weird, but we don't care, because that thing that happened three years ago was really funny.

Whenever I fail epically at something, you laugh. And then do it for me.

Whenever anyone makes me mad, you offer to make them "disappear" because you "have people for that."

We eat food that we don't like because the other one likes it.

We put ridiculous things on our heads and take pictures.

We make faces at each other, often in public.

We beat each other up, and laugh the entire time.

When I need something, I call you. And you answer.

When I want to kill you, you know. And you choose that time to go to the bathroom.

You tell me the things that I need to hear, whether or not I want to hear them.

When we talk it is never awkward, no matter how much time has passed, or how different our lives have become.

When we sit in silence, the silence has meaning, and we are silent not because we have nothing to say, but because we don't have to say it.

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I may not always be with you, or even be near you, but you are often in my thoughts and always in my heart.

We will always be friends because you make me happy.



To all of my friends, I love you and miss you, and I can't wait to see you again.

Yeah I'm that girl.

Yes I like editing papers. I know it's a bit strange. But I enjoy it. Kim walks in and goes "will you look at my paper?" and I smile like crazy and emphatically nod my head and say "Ohmygod YES!" And then we spend almost an hour working on her paper. Which is pretty good bt dubbs.

Also. I love reading all your blog posts. It makes me happy to know how well all y'all are doing.

I also love writing letters. There are several traveling the country in your direction as we speak. If you want one, let me know, and if I haven't already sent you one I will send you one. Oh, and small packages. That's a thing, too.

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND I MISS YOUR FACES.

But not as much now that they're all on my wall staring at me. You know how it is.

Lots of love!

Skylar

Well. That was interesting.

So there's this thing called Target Takeover. You're thinking "Takeover? Surely you don't want to take over Target?" Well we do. And we is the entire Freshman Class at GWU. Basically, they close down Target and open it up only to GW freshman. Because that's logical. Or something. This is the result.

Those are checkout lines. It's ridiculous. People were buying dressers, TVs, mirrors, bean bags, everything. What did we get? 

Not much. But we were still there for two hours.

Anywho. Yesterday I got pictures in the mail, so the wall next to my bed looks like this now.

It's super exciting and makes me happy. If you have anymore ideas for what I should put on my walls, let me know.

I also found a mailbox!!! It was super exciting and a major achievement. Ariel Bailey, I still need your address.

Finally, I got a mysterious package today. This was inside, and it made my life.

From my Aunt Rachael. Love you so much!! I love random packages and letters. 

That's all folks! Alina is ditching me tonight for her family, so I get to catch up on TV and such, which always makes me happy.

Love y'all!!!

Sunday: Church

I love church. I really do. As much as I whine about being up early and having to sit and pay attention and all that, I really am going to miss it. Why? Because everyone in that church knows my name. Most of them know my story, and more than a few know my plans. They have always been genuinely interested in what I (and the other youth) are doing with there lives. Like this kid:

We sang a song in church yesterday. It was amazing. It's sad that you missed it. 

And then there's this one:

She's pretty. She's smart. She has more blonde moments than me. I love her a lot. 

And then there's this kid. (Robie) I love him a lot, too. Because he's ridiculous. 

And somehow I managed to not get a picture of Stacie on my phone anywhere which depresses me. 

And there's Tina. But you know what she looks like. 

I've been with them for various amounts of time. Some, like Daniel and Haley, I've known pretty much forever. I've only known Robie for a few months, but I love him just as much. 

I don't have a picture of Cole and George, but they're super adorable, and I love them, too. 

I'm going to miss my church family as much as I miss my actual family. But hey, I got an umbrella, so everything's cool. (It's an amazing umbrella. I love it so much.)

Lots of love, 

Skylar

P.S. I want to grow up and be Becky Jones. She's just that cool. 

F*R*I*E*N*D*S

Anna and I always joke about our lives being a sitcom.

Like Friends. But instead of being in a coffee shop and our respective apartments, in the DHS Theatre Department and our respective houses.  Let me also take this moment to reiterate the fact that this is a department that I was NEVER a part of.

I guess that makes me...Monica? Isn't she the only one that never worked at Central Perk? Even though I've always seen myself as a less whiny and annoying Rachel, and clearly Tina's OCD fits Monica better. 

But whatever. That's not the point. 

The point is that high school isn't real life. High school is the set of an overly dramatic TV show. Luckily, none of my friends had babies, and none of them got married, and none of them were Joey, but it's still the same basic concept. 

Rather than just being us, we spent all of our time playing the parts of the people that we thought we were supposed to be. We moved and molded ourselves to fit into the niche that we were assigned, and we convinced ourselves that we were comfortable there. 

And then we graduated. 

Graduation brought the realization that we didn't have to be those people, and that we didn't really want to be them. We quit pretending and started telling people what we thought and felt, and guess what?

We grew up.

And it was wonderful. I don't have to shave off pieces of my personality because it might make people mad. Yeah sure, I can't say everything that comes to mind (be grateful for that, people) because that would be dumb, but I don't have to deal with people that I don't want to deal with any way.

Don't get me wrong, I loved all of my friends in high school. But it's over now. And I'm not sad. 

I had fun. I didn't take anything to seriously. I enjoyed my life. And now I can move on. Yeah, sometimes I'll miss the football games, or the parties at Ariel's, or driving around in the country with Anna just because when the two of us get together we can't stop talking. I'll miss waiting for Maggie at random times of the day because we walk to class together every chance we get. I'll miss seeing Jackson in a dress. I'll miss having class with Tina (even though we both decided that that was a mistake), and I'll miss Will bringing me biscuits. Oh, and I'll miss Melbs trying to convince me that she doesn't love me. And Jena being Jena. 

But I have those memories (and lots and lots of pictures), and every one of those people made a lasting impression. 

The only remotely sad part is that all of the people that I know I won't miss, won't miss me either. 

But then I remember that I don't really care all that much. 

Because high school isn't real life. It's a bubble. A fantastic bubble of fake tans and lipgloss. Full of teachers whose opinions don't matter (and a handful that change your life), grades that should matter (but very rarely do) and friends. Friends that get you through the worst times of your life, and who help you figure out who you are. Friends that push you to be the best person that you can be, and then tell you that you have to go be that person. 

I am grateful for every person that I met in high school. Even the ones that I really didn't like. Each of you has helped make me who I am (so if you don't like me, you can blame yourself).

I am grateful for every life that bumped up against mine, and every shared experience. Even the ones that I was forced into (like going to prom. Thanks, jerks.)

I am grateful for every piece of advice that I heard. Even if I decided it was stupid and I wasn't going to listen. 

I appreciate every opinion, even if I don't agree. 

Thank you all, for making me who I am. It is my pleasure to have been a part of this fabulously fake world, and I hope to see at least some of you in the real one. 

"What's the point of having friends if they're only going to die?"

This existentialist question brought to you by.......(drumroll).....THE FANTABULOUS ARIEL BAILEY!!!!

Is fantabulous a word? Not sure. Whatever, it is now.

So I made the mistake of actually pondering this question this morning as I was not getting out of bed. I mean, yeah sure, we can always say, "Well humans are social animals, so without contact with others  we'll die." Yes, that's true. But have you ever tried to figure out why we have the friends we have?

I hadn't. So I did. This morning before I decided to actually get out of bed.

Some of my friends make me feel important, like I'm the center of the universe and my presence makes them infinitely happy. Yeah sure, intellectually I know that all of their friends get the same ecstatic reaction when they walk in the room, but it doesn't lessen the emotional response to someone else's joy at your existence.

Then I have friends who make me feel inadequate. But not in a "you aren't good enough to live" kind of way. In a "you have so much potential, why don't you use it?" kind of way. I'm fairly sure these people don't know it, but they're the ones that make me feel like I'm slacking off, and cheating the world by not being as awesome as I could be. So then I work harder to be awesomer. They make me study harder, be nicer, be healthier, and generally get things done.

Then I have the friends that don't let me get away with anything. These are probably the ones that annoy me the most, and therefore the ones that I need the most. When I say "Hey will you get that?" they say "no." Not something I hear as often as I should. These people are the reason that I'm not always a total lazy bum. Though most of the time I still am.

I have friends who know me better than me. They're the ones that say "Don't do that, you'll regret it." or "The red shoes. If you're gonna buy shoes, buy the ones you really want." They don't let me talk myself out of, or into, things that really aren't in my best interests.

I also have friends who are more enthusiastic about my successes then I am. It makes me feel worthwhile, and like I have truly achieved something, whether it's something like cleaning my room, or getting into college. They freak out and jump for joy and happy dance with me, even though they don't have to.

Then there are the friends that don't let on that they're judging me. I always feel like I can tell them anything, and if they have an opinion about it, they don't let on. They're like diaries, letting me talk to them without really commenting or reacting in a way that makes me feel inferior or trivial.

And there are the friends that always have fun, that put me in a good mood, that can always cheer me up, that give amazing hugs, that provide intelligent conversation, that don't make me think too much, and that dance to horrible music with me.

That's why I have friends. Even if they are going to die someday. So, Ariel Bailey, there is the answer to your question (though Maggie's answer was funnier). I have friends because, besides my evolutionary hard-wiring, I need them to survive and keep me sane.

Taking a Moment

Coming off the Jesus high from Synod is always hard. You go from "Yeah! Life is awesome! I'm gonna read my bible every day and go to Africa and feed the poor and spread the word and maybe become a pastor!" to "Ugh. I don't want to wake up. Where is my coffee?" in 1.9 seconds flat. It's quite a fall.  I mean, lets be honest, I can't do anything for more than a week in a row (see the irregularity with which I blog), I'm going to college in three weeks so getting to Africa may be difficult, and, let's be honest, I would probably be a horrible pastor.

So I devised a plan. I am going to try my hardest (and maybe this will actually happen because it requires almost no effort) to see God in one random thing a day. Sunday, for example, it was in Tina, when she brought my brother a trampoline she found in her garage. Yesterday, in my drive home from taking my mom to work, and today, in my lovely dinner-party-planning friends. 

My mission is not to go "find God" everyday, but to recognize Him in the things that are already in my everyday life, whether it's a beautiful day, a butterfly, or a well placed cup of coffee.

On a completely unrelated note, HEALTH FORMS SUCK AND ARE STUPID. 

Love, 

             Skylar

P.S. I have continued my run of amazing roommates at Synod, this year I had Anna, who is essentially exactly like me. Like really. But healthier. I want to grow up and be her...