What Money Can't Buy

I feel like everybody wants to be rich and famous and it is something everyone wants. Their main focus in live is based on earning a sufficient amount of money to buy all their needs in life. They think that will earn them happiness. I once asked someone what they wanted to be when they grew up and they said "I wanna be rich and famous" so I responded out of annoyance "that isn't a profession". Then I started to think. Everybody wants money so you would think that it is the most important thing in the world, but its not. Money can give you many many things but if all you have is money, honestly, you don't have much. Here are a couple things money can't buy.

1. Love

Love. I’m sure you have heard of a few people who marry for money and try to convince themselves that they love someone rich. However, that is not true love. True love is feeling you get when you want to be around someone constantly and it is priceless not to mention hard to find. But if it is bought it is not love. You can’t pay someone to love you because it just comes. I’ve never been in love but I have seen my parents and how in love with each other they are. They have an unbreakable bond and they truly are the best of friends. Looking at that it shows me that simply cannot be bought. It is something that is found and something that is developed overtime.

2. Friends

True friendship is someone who will stick by your side under any circumstances or when you are nothing. They are always there for you and you can’t pay for someone like that. I met most of my friends last year in 8th grade and we immediately bonded. They are still my friends and they mean the world to me. They stand up for me and make me feel better when I’m down. They always know how to make me laugh and I can trust them with anything. I love the time I spend with them and they make me happy. All of these things my friends do for me is not based off of money. It is just true friendship.

3. Time

Time. As you look back on your life it seems like it has gone by speedy quick. Time is precious so you never want to waste it. Don't think about the past and don’t think about the future. Live in the moment. This also brings me to worrying. Worrying is such a waste of time cause you just focus on what you could have done better or what you didn't do but it is often something you cant change so it is time gone to waste. You have to spend your time wisely because it will flash right before your eyes. The thing that made me think of this example is once I was with my family but I got invited to somewhere by my friends. I really wanted to go but I couldn’t. That whole day I focused on what my friends were be doing without me and what I could be missing. But doing that caused me to miss fun opportunities with my family. That night I realized I had done nothing all day and I wasted the whole day thinking about something I couldn't change. I guess what I am trying to say is stay in the present and don’t worry.

4. Laughter

Laughter in my opinion is something that represents having a good time. Sure you can buy a ticket to a comedy show or something but thats not what I am talking about. I am talking about an experience or memory that you had with someone like your friends. When I think of laughter I think of the times with my friends when we were all laughing on the floor until we were crying or where we could laugh anymore because our stomachs hurt and most of the time it’s because of a joke or looking back on a memory. We are laughing at something that is not bought and that there is an experience you can’t buy.

5.  A good family relationship

Family relationships develop and sure you can buy someone in your family stuff and you may think is makes them like you more. But I'm talking about the fun times spent with family and using experiences to develop those relationships. I came up with this example by thinking o my family. My family sits at the dinner table together every night to talk. My family makes me feel comfortable and does stuff for me that I don’t think anyone else would do. For example, Many people are like “oh I hate my siblings” and “they’re so annoying!” But personally I love my sister and the time I spend with her is often very fun and she makes my laugh and she is always there for me and always cares about me. That relationship that we have can’t be bought.

Here are some additional things money can't buy (Image from chibird)

I'm not advising people to stop trying to be successful and not care about money because it is a necessary thing in life. I'm just telling you why you shouldn't base your whole life around money and how money isn't everything. The things that money can't buy are way more valuable than money.

I Hate Phones

I sit here staring at the blinking line on my computer screen with a blank mind and a blank page. Pure and white with no text written down. Nothing going through my brain and no ideas. Watching the time tick away. Then eventually, I become bored so I reach over about two inches and pick up my phone. Its a natural instinct. I go on Twitter, Instagram, Phhhoto, Vine, and Snapchat and I scroll through every new post and jump from app to app. It's not even fun but for some reason that's my main way of passing time. Eventually, I look at the clock and a couple of hours have passed then I realize how much time I have wasted and hate myself for it. But for some reason that's the pattern that I go through daily, forgetting what I had just learned the day prior. This post isn't about social media and how screwed up society is, It's about how we have become so dependent on our phones. I hate it. Everyday I come home from school with loads of homework and a bunch of studying to do but whenever I walk through the door at 3:00 pm, I end up just sit in my kitchen staring at a screen. I do it for hours on end and don't get any of the important stuff done. It's like an addictive drug that everyone is hooked on. Nowadays, relationships consist of only texting each other and never actually talking to each other. But they don't realize the person they are texting could be totally different from them in real life. Although, they wouldn't know that because they never actually talk to them.

Relationships (image from gif wave)

It's kind of ironic actually, I was on Instagram the other day and I was laughing at a post I saw. The post was of someone who was too busy on their phone they missed to see something really cool that was right infront of them. But in reality I am just laughing at myself because I am doing the exact same thing while looking at the post. I look around at parties and see everyone sitting on their phone and no one is talking to each other and think about what a shame it is. But I guess I can't talk because I do that as well. It's like our whole lives are held within our phone. They make us blind to the real world and less active and social. So what would happen if we didn't have it? Would people not know how to pass time? Would people finally communicate to each other by actually talking? And all these things just makes we wonder what the future is going to be like. Technology is going to advance and it may be for the better but it also could be for the worse. If we are tremendously addicted to our phones now, it's just going to get worse. As a result people are way too dependent on their phones. The need to put them down and have a real conversation.

PS. Shoutout to Martina Nedakovic for being the inspiration of this post by her social media post :))
PPS. While writing this post I subconsciously went on my phone 9 times (I counted).

Volleyball :)

I started dancing in 5th grade and right away was in love with it but after a couple of years I started to loose interest in it. It became boring for me so I decided I would find a new sport. Volleyball tryouts were coming up in a bit for a club named elevate, so I thought I might as well tryout. When I got to tryouts I was really nervous. It being my first time to ever play I obviously sucked at it but somehow I made it on. I played with that club going to tournaments and different places with my team. We won no games and I am not saying this as an exaggeration... we actually did not win a single game. So in that first season of playing I liked the sport regardless of how little I learned in those three months and how often we lost so I wanted to keep playing.
During the summer I played beach volleyball for a month. It was okay but I didn't like it as much. After that, I went to summer camp then came back and went to another camp for volleyball. This camp was at BYU. I went there for four days meeting new people and playing volleyball all day. At this camp everyday we woke up, ate breakfast, went to practice, ate lunch, went to practice, ate dinner, played in a tournament, and lastly went to sleep. Except for one afternoon where we went to Seven Peaks. It was a lot of volleyball and I had a blast and ended up liking it even more than I did before. I also ended up learning more than I did in those three months I played club volleyball.

Me and my friends at Seven Peaks

A week later I tried out for the high school volleyball team and I made it on. Everyday after school for the first quarter of the school year, I would go to practice for three hours and I loved it. I loved all of my coaches and loved how much they taught me. They taught me how to play volleyball and also how to be a better player. One thing the taught me was commitment. They taught me what the steps are too fully commit to something which leads to improvement. They also taught me how to be mentally tough by getting rid of panic and thinking of positivity. We finished sixth nationally but its not about winning its about improving and putting out your best effort.

My high school volleyball team and coach

At this point in volleyball I fell in love with the sport and playing it made me happy. After the season was over I was a little unsettled because I knew that even though I went to school with all of the girls I played with, I wouldn't be as close with them and wouldn't see them everyday at practice anymore. They became my close friends.

Two weeks later I tried out for a club named Club V. At tryouts everyone was super good and I thought I wasn't going to make it on to a team but turns out I did. I made it on to a team with three other girls for park city and I'm pumped to being playing with them. The season hasn't started yet but I am super exited for it. My whole volleyball experience has taught me that if you work hard enough at something you can achieve it.

5 Things Everyone Needs to Know

1. You are who you are and you have what you have

We tend to want something we don't have and want to be someone we are not. We are our own biggest bully and life is hard in that manner. We need to learn that no matter how much we want to be someone else we can't and we should just focus and worry about ourselves.  We just need to accept who we are and learn to love ourselves. We also need to learn not to compare ourselves to other and just be happy with who we are because everyone is different and thats just the way life is.

Don't compare yourself to others (image from pretty designs)

2. Little moments count too

We often sit there and wait for the perfect moments or big moments in life while the little ones just pass right by us and we don't even realize it. We need to learn to live in the now and not wait around. Perfect moments will come and you don't have to wait for them.

3. Live in the moment not in your cell phone

Phones are taking over the world. We tend to rely on them too much and spend time on them too much. I personally do this. Our whole lives are based around phones and its like people are living in their phones instead of just living. When I am hanging out with my friends we are all always on our phones and don't actually socialize with each other. Everyone only cares about how many Instagram like they got or if their picture matches the theme. But honestly no one cares about that stuff, only you do. I feel like phones are just something to do to pass the time but they have become way more than that. There is also so much hate on the internet that we would be better off and happier if we just put our phones down and lived.

4. People over possessions

When you die what do you want to be known for? Do you want to be known for "the guy who owns the ferrari" or "the best friend"? The best friend. Don't be known for what you own, but who you are as a person. Don't base your whole life around making your possessions and making money because then you won't have time for the things that really matter. Don't devote your whole life to your possessions because at the end of the day no one really cares about what you own. They care about who you are.

5. Focus on the good learn from the bad

I have a friend in volleyball that whenever she does something bad she always focuses on that instead of what she did good. It brings her down and she starts playing worse. This is a perfect example of focusing on the bad. If you focus on the bad you won't be happy and you want to live life happily don't focus on the bad things in life just learn from them and move on. You are better off.

Stress and Pet Peeves

Stress

Summer ends and school starts causing a huge amount of stress upon the students. I admit the beginning of first quarter is pretty easy but the end even, though it may not be hard, it sure is stressful. Throughout the quarter its okay, not too hard, not too easy but once near the end of the quarter hits. Its becomes real stressful. The number one reason is because of tests. Tests seem to only come at the end of the quarter and when you have a test in each class each day its hard to study for them all. There is just not enough time in the day. Especially when you have volleyball three hours everyday after school. Now I'm not trying to complain or blame teachers for our vast amount of stress. I just need to get it out. Just this week I had a AP geography test, english test, math test, biology project, and an art test. For the geography test we had to study and take a test on all the vocabulary throughout the quarter. For the english test we were tested on all the common roots and vital vocabulary of the quarter. 

Another reason for it being stressful is you don’t have enough time to get your grades up. Throughout the quarter students don’t really worry about your grades too much but when the end of the quarter comes near thats when they start to worry about them because they know they will be final soon. As result the end of the quarter is really stressful and hard but I know everyone else feels the same.

Stress (Image courtesy of Chibird)

Pet Peeves

I know that it is bad to judge other people and I shouldn't do it but there are somethings that just get me and I can't stand, here are a couple of them.

1. Loud chewing

Maybe it is just me but I honestly I cannot stand the sound of loud chewing or even hearing someone chew. It is repulsive and makes me want to leave their presents.

2. Repetition

When people are literally deaf and make you repeat yourself like one hundred times. Also when someone thinks you didn't hear them are kept telling you the same thing over and over again.

3. Slow people

When people talk slow, walk slow, or eat slow it sends me off the edge. Like I have places to go and things to do and I don't want to wait around for you.

4. When people don't have manners

I think it is really rude when people don’t have manners. People and I mean everyone should learn to have good manners. They should have good manners when they go over to people’s house, when they go out to dinner, and when they meet people’s parents.

5. Kids who are rude to adults 

I think that all adults whether they are teachers, coaches, or parents they should be respected by kids always. Adults are meant to be respected and under no circumstances should adults not be respected.

I know that I am kind of venting, but isn't that what a blog is for? 

ActionQuest

Every summer I sit at home solitary while pondering what to do with my life and how to spend a whole three months school-free and somehow the best thing I come up with is tv with a summer gone to waste. However, this summer was different. This summer was filled with excitement. In March I decided I wanted to spend the summer at camp and found a camp called ActionQuest. Once I saw the video about what the camp contains I immediately knew I wanted to go there. I was a long four months of anticipation but when the day came (July 7th) I was off on a plane with my sister, her friend Maddie, and my friend Jenna heading to the British Virgin Islands. We woke up at four o'clock in the morning and headed to the airport. Three flights later I was in the U.S Virgin Islands and the next morning took a ferry to my final destination the British Virgin Islands. There I found out the boat that I would be living on for the next month was named Sambamba later that day I met my eleven other shipmates and three instructors. The day after we set off sailing around the British Virgin Islands. Here is where my camp story begins.

Me and my shipmates at the beach

Day one started off with a swimming test which in my personal opinion I thought was very unnecessary considering we were at a sailing and scuba diving camp and everyone knows how to swim or else they wouldn't sign up. After the swim test we went for a quick snorkel then took ocean showers (showers where you jump into the ocean then apply shampoo jump in again then put on conditioner and body wash then jump in again and last wash yourself off with a fresh water hose).  The next couple of days consisted of scuba dive training, sailing training, water sports, and hanging out on the beach. Every night we slept on the bow (front) of the sailboat looking up at the bright stars with only a single sheet to cover us and a pillow to rest our head. We occasionally stopped in the towns where we got to talk to our family and friends over the phone. Like when we stopped in Spanish Town and got to eat burgers which tasted especially good considering my diet on the boat mostly consisted of PB&Js. We also go to go to the shops and buy stuff for ourselves or family and friends in those towns. After a couple days of training I finally got to dive and it was the most wonderful thing I have ever experienced but nothing like what I imagined. Breathing underwater is exhilarating and the animals you see underwater are so exotic. On our first dive we ran into some jellyfish but they were moon jellyfish and don't sting. There must have been hundreds around us and it looked absolutely remarkable. I grew close with everyone of my shipmates and when it came time to go home I didn't want to. Not only did I leave camp with a scuba certification, sailing and boating passport, and coral reef preservation license but also new friends that I made for life and new life lessons.  

Sailing day!

Scuba diving Lilly (on the left) and Me (on the right)

Now this experience wasn't all about scuba diving and sailing even though it may sound like it. I learn many important life lessons. First of all I learned how to not be so reliant on my phones. We barley had the chance to use our phones while at camp. They were locked away at all times while we were on the boat and when we did stop at towns (every 5 days or so) we got to use them but that was a maximum of two hours. We also had lifeworks meetings every couple of days that taught me some really important things but those things will come in a later blog. 

Introduction

To start off my blog I just wanted to give you a little bit more information about me and what this blog is going to be about.

More about me

As you may already know my name is Jaqi Turnlund and I know, it is generally not how you would spell “Jackie”. I changed the spelling of my name around fifth grade because I could. I didn't really think people would actually spell it that way and catch on but it stuck and I kept it. Anyways, I am a freshman at Treasure Mountain Junior High in Park City, Utah. I have lived here my whole life and I love it here. I have a sister Megan who is fun and silly and I love to be around her. I also have a sister named Katie who is now attending college and I really look up to her because she is very hard working and I admire that. I have a mom and a dad who I love dearly and who always know the right things to say. And of course, my dog, Jasper, who is crazy but sweet. 

Me and my dog Jasper

I am really into the ocean and I love everything about it. To some people it is scary, dark, and mysterious but I find it fascinating. I love everything about it from the animals to the water sports that come with it. One of the “sports”, I guess you could call it that, that is my favorite is scuba diving. I got my scuba diving certification this summer at camp. At this camp I did my first scuba dive and it was one of the best moments of my life but i’ll get into more detail in a later blog. But really, I love every sport. Some sports I love are volleyball, dance, skiing, and football (watching it). I used to dance and I did it for about four years. I really fell in love with this sport and I thought it was an amazing way to express myself but, I moved on last year to volleyball. Volleyball is so different from dance but once I got into it I found that I enjoyed it even more. Skiing is an obvious sport because well, I mean, I live in Park City so I kind of have to love it. Watching football is kind of a have-to because my family loves Monday Night Football and are in love with the San Fransisco 49ers. I will get to that in a craziness in another blog.

My blog

Now, you are probably wondering what this blog is going to be about. Well, I am going to tell you right now. This blog is going to be about my life. I am going to tell you fun, exciting experiences that I have had in and give you stories as well. It is also going to be about things that I like and why I like them. Another thing I am going to blog about is tips and tricks from things that I have learned. Enjoy!