Palm Springs

When the words "Spring break" come to mind, people often think of partying and going somewhere warm to spend time with your friends but, for me, it is the opposite. Almost every year, my family goes down to Palm Springs to spend time with my grandparents and it is always really fun.

We woke up bright and early on Sunday morning to drive on down to Palm springs. I was in the car with my mom and my sister. My dad was going to meet us down there later because he was at a golf tournament like the cool golfer he is. So my mom, my sister, and I drove the thirteen hour drive down to Palm Springs all day stopping at fast food restaurants for meals and gas stations for pee breaks. When we finally arrived, it was about nine o'clock and we were exhausted ( even though I slept for about eight of the thirteen hours). After we said a quick hi to our grandparents and headed off to bed.

My grandparent's pool where I chilled all day

I woke up at about 10:00 am and was starving soI headed to the kitchen and ate some good ol' Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I went back to my room, put on my swim suit, and sat in the pool for a hour or two. I soon became bored of just sitting there so, Megan, my mom, and I decided to head over to the store before we pick up my dad from the airport. Our first stopped was Barnes and Noble. I usually hate reading but there wasn't much else to do at my Grandparent's house except for watching tv because my grandparents usually golfed all day with my parents. I decided to buy the book I am The Messenger and read that for the few days that I am staying here. The next stop for us was whole foods where we picked up some food to snack on while we were hungry at the house. The last stop was picking up my dad. We headed over to the local airport and picked him up from his golf tournament. When we got home it was about dinner time and the dinner at my grandparent's house is exceptionally good. They are have an amazing chef to cook all of their meals and I am pleasantly surprised with each of them. Dinner tonight was a pork with wild rice and carrots. Pork is probably one of my least favorite things to eat mainly because it is very chewy, salty, and stiff but, this pork, was the best I have ever had. It was chewy and perfect and I got second helpings too.

Anyways, enough about dinner. The next day, I relaxed in the pool and read I am The Messenger the whole day and just chilled in the sun all day. It was very relaxing and I really enjoyed myself. Now I am going to describe the dinner because you know I love my food. Tonight was chicken and couscous. I actually really like couscous and chicken, well it is alright (I just don't like the chicken my mom makes shhh don't tell). But the chicken was pretty good and the couscous of course was amazing. The Next day, was our last day in the sunny Palm Springs so my sister and I obviously had to do a little spring shopping which lasted us all day. We bought tons of things to fill up our spring closet with. Now, this night, we went out for dinner. We went to a local Mexican restaurant and I order chicken tacos. They were pretty good except for the fact that the meat had a lot of fat on it which grossed my out a bit. I ate it with rice and guacamole and was still pretty happy with myself.
The next day we headed back home and I was excited to get back and see all my friends that I missed so dearly.

Jealousy

Jealousy: green-eyed monster (carriespalding)

Jealousy. It is probably one of the single biggest joy-sucking things in life. Jealousy is a natural thing but to be brutally honest, jealousy sucks. Its a killer. Being jealous of someone makes you very unhappy and it is a waste of time. Jealousy comes in different forms. There is being jealous of what someone has, and being jealous of what someone is. For example you could be jealous of a house or a car that someone owns or you could be jealous of their prettiness or kindness. But no matter how much we long after the achievements or looks of others we are still here in the same position that we were with the same looks we have. We can try our hardest to be them or look like them but it is pointless to want to be someone else. We spend too much time focusing on the possessions or looks of others that we don't spend time on ourselves and honestly all of this just hurts us. Jealousy leads to lower self-esteem and more issues with you have yourself that you had to begin with.

Lets say you see someone super pretty on social media. You then start to focus on looking like them and trying to wear the same clothes. You are investing all your time into someone who you are not. I mean, if trying to look like someone makes you happy, be my guest but if it is harming you and you spend all your own time on them and the jealousy you have for them you are hurting yourself.

So obviously I have now convinced you if you weren't already that jealousy sucks. Now how do we help it?

Focusing on yourself is one of the most important ways to get you mind off of that person. It is the first step to handling your jealousy. By focusing on yourself that it get your mind off of the jealousy that you have. You will begin to feel less attached to the feeling of it. Redirecting that attention that you are putting towards jealousy back to yourself. You will you become happier if you focus on yourself and not on other people. 

Another thing to do is consider yourself the object of someone else’s jealousy. This may sound a little wrong but it will put more confidence in yourself. Obviously don’t be rude about it and put all your time trying to look good just so other people be jealous of you. All I'm trying to say is make yourself think that someone else is jealous of you and boost your self esteem.

You may also want to consider distancing yourself from social media. Social media is full of people who are almost flawless and it is very easy to become jealous of them. If you spend less time on social media, you will be less likely to see those flawless people with items that could make you jealous therefore, you won't be jealous of them.

The last thing that you can do is change your point of view towards the subject. Change the way jealousy affects you. Let it be an appreciation for the person instead of envy.

The Stereotype of Makeup

Two-faced, fake, deceiving, and unconfident. These are all adjectives used by people while looking at someone with “too much” makeup on. Personally, I do not where that much makeup, I only wear a little bit but this is because of personal preference. People think makeup is for people who are not confident with themselves and are trying to hide their face to be someone who they are not. People think girls wear makeup if they are ugly and want to cover up their face. People think makeup is “false advertising” and misleading by showing everybody a face that is not yours but I completely disagree. The face that they are wearing is theirs they are just adding more to it. People where makeup for expression and for themselves.


Makeup is an art many people use makeup for themselves and do if for themselves to enhance their features. Many people get the impression that when a girl puts on makeup, she is trying to  impress someone. She is trying to impress a boy. She could be in fact trying to impress a boy but not everyone is trying to impress someone by wearing makeup. Just because you put on makeup doesn’t mean that you are trying to look good for someone. Some people do it for themselves because they like to look good or some people put it on because it is fun

When a girl is wearing "too much" (I say this in quotations because I do not think a person can be wearing too much makeup) others often try to stop her or.. actually... I'm not sure what the are trying to accomplish while saying this because it should not have any affect on their life but they say "Oh but your so pretty without makeup!". Then the person they are saying that to takes off her makeup and then gets told that she is ugly and and should cover up her acne. She then is back in the same place she started but with lower confidence.

Sometimes people don't wear makeup and when they get told they are ugly. They then listen to those people and put on makeup, but right when they do this people say it is gross how you can change your face like that and how you have no respect for yourself. They also say they have trust issues because of how different the person looks. These are inappropriate things to say. People are allowed to do what they want with themselves and shouldn't have to worry about what other people say.

Makeup. (giphy)

Putting makeup on your face doesn’t change the person you are. It doesn’t change you personality one bit with the exception of your confidence. It is a personal preference and if a girl doesn't want to wear makeup, so be it. If she's want to wear a ton, good for her. If wearing makeup makes someone more confident and happier with themselves then why should they be judged for that?

Basically what I’m trying to say is don’t judge people by their appearance. If they want to wear a buttload of makeup that is their decision and you do not have to have an input on it.

San Diego

Winter break came by pretty quick. When breaks drive my family and I usually use the opportunity to go on vacation. Since my sister is a junior, we decided we would visit some colleges. She knows she wants to go to college somewhere in California so we packed up our things and headed to San Diego. We stayed home for the Winter Break weekend then headed out on Tuesday. We decided to drive but I don't know why because I hate. Anyways, We got in the car at about 5:30 am and drove for the whole day and I did nothing except use a buttload of data. We arrived at our place at about 6:00 and then headed out to dinner right away. We walked to a local restaurant that was very small but it turned out to be really good. I ate a spicy burrito and was pleasantly surprised. After dinner we walked home and went to bed because we had a day that was packed tomorrow. 

I woke up, showered, and walked across the street to Mission Beach Cafe for a quick

Sunset on Mission Beach

breakfast and then I headed out with my family to University San Diego. Let me just tell you that place is gorgeous. The buildings remind me of Europe even though they are not European. The architecture is outstanding and I is one of the prettiest schools I have ever seen. We walked around the small campus with a tour group and got a good feeling of what the school was like. The were many restaurants for how small the private school was the campus was very clean. The only bad thing about it was we got the opportunity to look at a dorm room and I was actually repulsed. It was very gross and crowded. Anyhow, After touring the campus we stopped for a quick lunch then headed out. We got back to our place then walked down the street and shopped at the local shops for a bit. I got a shirt and a couple of stickers but thats about it. It was time for dinner and I was starved we headed down the street to World Famous. The pasta there was so amazing I ate until my stomach hurt and I could barely walk. My family agreed. We walked along Mission Beach back to our place. It was very very peaceful walk with the breeze in our hair and looking at the modern houses. When we got back home I crashed and was excited for the next day. 

My dad dragged me and the rest of my family along to a museum (I don’t enjoy museums

The window out of the museum

very much) It was a giant ship that was from WWII that was turned into a museum. I didn't want to go but once I got there I was glad I went. The beginning of the museum was very boring and was only airplanes but me and Megan (my sister) did get to ride in a simulator that flipped us all around while you pretended you were in an actual helicopter. We went up the stairs to more planes then went on a tour of the inside. This is when it got fun. We got to see all the rooms in the ship and actually get to feel what it was like. We went to the cheesecake factory for lunch it was too much that I had to take more than half of it home that I didn't finish. After lunch we went on as bike ride on the beach path. It was very relaxing and fun to just ride around and see the people, houses, and beach. That night we went to a dinner at a hotel which I expected to be below average but to my surprise it was a very good meal. I got sushi and devoured it in a second. 

The next day was our last day. We woke up late and had brunch at Mission Cafe then went down to University San Diego State. My cousin goes there so she gave us a little tour of it. It was a lot bigger and more spread out which made me like it better than University San Diego there was more campus life and it seemed a little more friendly and social. I really liked it there and I could see myself going there. We went out to a pizza place with my cousin for dinner then went home. The next day we packed up the car and left the great city of San Diego.

Dear Ideal Reader

Dear Zoe Sugg, 

Picture of Zoe Sugg (Zoella on youtube) (Image from Independent)

My name is Jaqi Turnlund and I am in the 9th grade. I found you on youtube a couple of years ago and you instantly interested my with your videos. I have a blog where I write about things that I do, rants, or pretty much anything that interests me which is kind of like what you do. That's why you are my ideal reader. You are the person that when I write, I write it specifically for you hoping that you will read it. First of all, I admire you because you are similar to me by posting stories about your life and the exciting things you do but also, because you are inspiring. From the point I started watching your videos, you have inspired me. Not because I want to be a youtube but by the type of person you are. You are inspiring because you don't care about what other people think about you. You have millions of subscribers on youtube and there are some pretty mean people out there so you must get hate but, I doesn't faze you. You keep doing what you love and nothing is stopping you from doing it. Another thing that is inspiring about you is you are real. Obviously you are literally a 'real' person but I mean you are real and not fake. You show your true self. On your vlogging channel, you have posted a video of you really upset and crying and you said "I am showing the real me" I think that is very inspirational because it takes a lot to post something like that an most people wouldn't do that. You showed people that you weren't the perfect person everyone thought you were. You also said "sometimes life gets too much and you just need a breather" which not only helps people but also shows that you are real. You are just very down to earth and real with who you are. Another reason I admire you is because you say things in your videos that are really cool and make me change the way I look at things and also, You are a very positive person and always seem to for the most part, stay happy. You always smile in your videos (with the exception of the one with you crying) and make everyone's day brighter. When reading my blog, I would hope you would look at things differently by some of my rants and opinions. Also I hope you would be interested in my life by my stories. I would hope that you come back to read my posts because you find that I am similar to you and my posts interest you. 

Thanks, 

Jaqi

FEAR

One of these days, possibly very soon, you will discover yourself standing on the edge of a cliff. Your whole life lies behind you. A life that you want to leave behind. Only, the future lies far below, so far that from where you stand you can't tell what it looks like. The only way to know for sure is by jumping off the edge and plunging into the unknown. But something holds you back. Fear. If you ask people what they fear they generally would say something generic like clowns. So what's my fear?

Over the years I have never been immensely afraid of anything to the severe. I mean yeah, spiders, heights, and dying did scare me but it wasn't too serious. I could always just smoosh a spider and its not likely to fall when you are at great heights. I was afraid of dying for a while but soon came to the conclusion that dying is going to happen to everyone eventually therefore, there is no reason to fear it; it is just a waste of time.

Over the last year I have found the thing that actually does scare me. Now, I know it is going to sound foolish or it is going to sound rash and its really hard to explain the reasoning of why but, I am afraid of dreams. No, I don't mean your dreams and goals in life. I mean the thing that happens to you while you sleep. But I'm not talking about a dream of you walking down the street and thats it. I'm talking about the feeling of waking up not knowing whether that was your real life or not. I'm talking about the fact that if you dream certain things, it means something. Or that time you had a nightmare and had to go sleep in your parents room. The fear of dreams is called Oneirophobia. Many people who have this to the severe often don't want to fall asleep but it is not that serious for me. Now one of the main reasons I fear this is because when I am dreaming, I can't control it. I can't control what is happening to me inside of my brain. Its like someone takes over for a while. Now this fear of mine is not to the point of where if I dream anything, I wake up terrified. I just shake it off most of the time depending on the type of dream. But when I start to think about it, like I am now, it genuinely scares me.

Dreams. (Tumblr)

 Now, I guess you can say that I am scared of sleeping and I guess that is slightly true. Even though I love it like every other teenager does, it scares me somewhat. Maybe its the vulnerability of it and how anything can be happening to you without you even knowing while being in a subconscious state. But it might be the things that I am capable of doing while sleeping. Like for instance the fact that I sleep walk. The fact that one time I woke up while I was running up the stairs. Or...funny story actually, A year ago on New Years I slept over at my friend Mckinna's house. I fell asleep on the couch and woke up back on the same couch so I assumed I stayed there the whole night. But to my surprise, in the morning, Mckinna's mom said that someone went into Aidan's (her brother's) room at about 7 a.m. She then went on explaining how that person came in, stared at him for a few minutes, then went into his bathroom, went to the bathroom, then left. While she was telling this story, I thought about how embarrassing for the person that would have been and I actually kid you not I thought to myself "thank god its not me!" Mocking then asked who it was and her, me, and our two other friends that were there turned around in wonderment. He then lifted his finger and pointed straight at me and said "It was her."
I know this may seem like a funny little story but it made me realize no one can know what they do in their sleep. I had no idea that I got up and walked around let alone went to the bathroom! So thats that. If you understand my fear, great. If you don't then... well... I don't know how else to explain it.

Thanks.

Mexico Pt. 2

Day 3: Beach day

Today, unlike the other days, was a very sunny day so my family and I decided to take a ten minute drive down to a new beach called Kupuri Beach Club. As soon as we got there I was quite hungry. But, I laid in the sun for about three hours then finally got my food. After I was completely full I decided to go into the ocean and body surf. I stood there then once a big wave came along, I got in a ready stance. Once the wave was close enough I would swim as hard as I could. I would catch the wave for about half a second but then it would pass tumbling me down into the sand while I got a mouth full of salty water. This was the cycle of me trying to body surf. I caught only one wave then about an hour later, headed back to my chair in defeat. We drove back home in our little golf cart and then headed out to dinner.

Sitting by the beach

Day 4: Salulita

The pretty flags in Salutila

Since the day was quite cloudy today we decided it wasn't a good day to go to the beach so we took the Twenty minute drive down to the little town of Salulita. When I arrived I looked up to see the variety of different colors of plastic flags that were lined all down the streets and it looked absolutely beautiful. We wandered down the streets looking at all the little shops as they pass by with my family buying a few things. I bought a beaded bracelet with a wave design, a couple of post cards,  5 multicolored beaded bracelets for me and my friends, and a dream catcher. We then went to eat lunch at a cute little restaurant located right on the beach. I ordered chicken quesadillas and they were out in a jiffy along with my mango smoothie. I was expecting pretty low quality food due to the looks of the run-down restaurant but to my surprise my food was quite good. After lunch we still had more time to kill so we continued to look around at all the shops and get ice cream as well. We spent about eight hours browsing around the town and eating lunch. After this we got home and I was beat! Who knew shopping could be so exhausting! We went out to dinner.

Day 5: Surf Day/ New years

Even though I am not very good at it, I really love surfing. So today I had the urge to go surfing. I asked my dad if he wanted to come with me the three hours later my dad and I were finally set out to go surf. I was pumped. I love surfing and I hadn't been surfing in an considerable amount of time. I hopped on my board and paddle out into the middle of the ocean. We shortly came to realize that the wind had died out. We still tried to surf but had no success and went back home tired and in defeat. I had wasted the whole day waiting to surf and surfing was second-rate. So, after that let down, it was time to go to our New Years Party! I would have rather been with my friends for new years but I was in Mexico and that was pretty cool. So, this was in the resort where I was staying at the St. Regis. I was called an all white party so I put on a white skirt and white shirt. We drove over there in our golf cart pretty quick then waited in a line to be seated at our table. Once we were seated, Megan and I were starving so we immediately went out to the buffet to go and grab our share of food. While scanning the tables I noticed that they were all seafood. And whats the only type of food I don't like? Seafood. I then scoped out a little table near the end which had Beef tenderloin. I grabbed a plate of that, a couple pieces of bread, and a bowl of potato soup, and made my way back to my table. I ate for a while and sat and watched as my parents eventually left the table and entered the dance floor. Then I watched my sister Katie do the same. So I sat there with Megan and talk for a while. Three hours later my family and I stood in a circle two minutes before midnight on the beachside then said our goals for next year and favorite part about the last year. About fifteen minutes later we drove home and crawled into bed.

Day 6: Lets go Paddle Boarding

It was my last day in the beautiful Punta Mita so I went to the beach for the last time. My sister and I laid out in the sun for a while then decided to take a quick paddle board ride. We rented some paddle boards at the beach club and set off. It was very relaxing and there was nice breeze. After my arms grew tired I laid down on the board and relaxed the the waves rocking by board and the relaxing sound of them crashing onto the beach. I headed back home after an hour and sat by the pool while listening to music. The day ended at that and we want out to dinner.

Day 7: Home.

I woke up early to get my last bit of sun in Punta Mita then packed up my bag to head home. Once the car arrived to drive us to the airport I said my goodbyes and left in peace. Bye Punta Mita, See you in two weeks. ;)