MarvelousMarissa's Blog

In today's world, it's so easy to get caught up everything and forget about fulfilling our happiness. We should all be happy with who we are, the dreams we choose to chase, the people we choose to associate ourselves with, and the list goes on and on!! Happiness is something these days that seems to fading, and more and more people are getting caught up in life's challenges.

Whether it be you lost your job, or your boyfriend just broke up with you, everybody has something going on in their life; everyone has a sad story. At any given time everyone has something in their life that they are not happy about, and struggling with their own happiness. I'm not saying that you should have a big smile on your face when paying bills, I'm saying that challenges arise but don't let that get in the way of you enjoying life. When I'm out in public and look at people's faces, I very rarely see a smile on them. Maybe at that given time that person was thinking "I have to cook dinner, take Jimmy to soccer practice, clean the bathroom, AND the in-laws are coming tomorrow!" I don't think that should get them down and ruin the happiness they should be feeling. Your problems that may be bigger than that, but just remember that things get better. When you are in pubic spread the happiness. Even if your day isn't going super great, smile at someone. Their day may not be going as they would have wanted, and your smile cheered them up. Start a chain reaction.

If you turn off the t.v., stop reading the newspaper, and unplug the computer, would you see a difference in how you feel from day to day? I think that with most people there would be a difference in how they feel. Those three types of "media" are the sources to how we find out what's going in the world, right? Those three sources can also have a greater impact on how happy we are. When you are constantly hearing/reading negative things, they start getting drilled into your brain and then you start thinking negatively. Not every bad piece of news comes from those things obviously. But just remembering a telling yourself that everything does get better, makes it go by easier.

The main purpose of our life is to be happy. If you are not happy then doesn't it just seem like life sucks? We were not put on this earth to sulk and regret. We were put here to fulfill our dreams, and live a life of happiness. Just because you are struggling right now doesn't mean you can't enjoy some time you do something you enjoy. Take a step back and go do something you enjoy, even if you are just happy for that moment in time. Just because things out there are miserable and situations you are in are miserable, doesn't mean that you have to constantly be thinking about that and dragging yourself in deeper.

"Smile no matter what, because things do get better. The time you spend smiling will not be regretted from years to come." ~me!

I was watching the Today show about a month ago, a little late for the blog, but it still means something. They were doing a segment about kids and cell phones, about which one is the right one and how old they should be when they get one. I was barely listening to it, but I could still hear it loud and clear when they said the most appropriate age for a kid to get their first cell phone is BETWEEN THE AGES OF 8 AND 12. I just had to haha at this, because that is not the way I grew up. No one that I knew was eating their gummy bears at lunch while getting the 411 from their bff all the way across the room. I find that there is no need to give a child a cell phone at that young of age unless they are always hustling and bustling, going here and there with activities and school and friends. Then they showed this one cell phone and one of the ladies said “This is perfect for texting.” If you give an 8 year old a phone and say “It includes texting too,” then I guarantee you that that child will stop paying attention in class, and just be focused on texting and using that phone. Children between the ages of 8 and 12 don’t have the maturity to use the cell phone, and more than likely will trade it at recess for a beenie baby. Giving a child, that young, a cell phone is just going to cause more trouble on the parents end.

Top five consequences of giving a young child a cellphone:

*Less attention paid toward learning the necessary information needed in life

*A [possibly] raised monthly bill, because little Tommy went over on minutes

*A lost or broken cell phone

*More attention paid toward friends, and less on school and family

*Getting in trouble from the teacher because they used the phone during class

Those years of a child’s life should not be spent engrossed in their cell phone, but enjoying their childhood. Not all kids this age that have cell phones overuse the privilege, but I still think it is wrong to give a child (that young) something that is not needed until later in life. “Hey Bill! Tommy just sent his first text! Aww, this is such a proud day.” Do you really want to be saying that?

F.Y.I- The term "texually active" means someone who texts more than they breathe. They are very active in texting.

What do you think about giving a child that young a cell phone?

What age would you suggest a child should get a cell phone?

I've been many of places in my lifetime; most of which I probably don't even remember. Especially this year, I've had a lot of great adventures all over the states of Missouri and Illinois. So, I managed to put a little list of great places for you, your families and friends to enjoy. :)


Missouri:

Beetree Park (location: South County) If you haven't been here, it has walking trails, a pond, playgrounds, an old castle to tour on weekends, and lookouts. You will find great views of the Mississippi River, and Valmeyer, Ilinois at the lookout and trails.
http://www.co.st-louis.mo.us/parks/beetree.html

Tower [Road?] Park (location: Hillsboro) I'm not sure if this is the exact name of the park, but I know it is definitely off of Tower Road. There is a small playground here, and a tower you can climb. This tower has been here since before the 90's, and from when I visited it again back in June, it was still standing but it might not be all that sturdy. When you get to the top (if you feel daring enough), there is a small little room to lookout of. I would say if you feel daring and feerless then this might be a good adventure for you. I believe the boards do get less sturdy when you near the top. I've climbed it a few times back when I was little, but not recently. I'm hoping to accomplish that within the next year though. :)

Suson Park (location: South County) This is a great park for younger kids, and even adults! There are ponds, lots of open space, playgrounds, and they have barnyard animals (goats, pigs, chickens, cows, and horses) there on weekends. Yes, fishing is allowed in the ponds. The park is open from 10:30am-5:00pm for this month, and 10:30am-3:00pm from October until March. The animals provide great entertainment for the little kids on weekends. :)
http://www.stlouisco.com/PARKS/suson.html

Sandy Creak Covered Bridge (location: Goldman [near Hillsboro]) This is such a nice shaded relaxing spot. The only covered bridge located in Eastern, Missouri, the Sandy Creak Covered Bridge, is located here, with a little stream of water running underneath. There are also trails for walking. This is a great place for the photographer, or nature enthusiast. It is very beautiful here. You cannot swim in the stream, but you can wade in it if you want.
http://www.mostateparks.com/sandybridge.htm

Mastodon State Historic Site (location: Imperial) This little park provides many walking trails, that have marvelous scenery. I went here yet again last month, and I was hoping to see the famous "Kimmswick Bone Bed," but all I got to see was an informational bulletin board about it. Mastodon does have playgrounds, and a museum of the bones, but the museum now costs $2.00 to enter. This little park is mostly made up of beautiful scenery and walking trails.
http://www.mostateparks.com/mastodon.htm

The Science Center (location: St. Louis) If you live in/around St. Louis you probably already know what this is. But, if you do not, it is a wonderful place full of fun. Everything there relates to science in a fun way, not like sitting in a classroom taking boring notes, but handson things. Pretty much everything in here provides entertainment, and not just for kids either.

Mark Twain Lake (location: Perry [near Hannibal] There is so much to do here! There's many camping spots, fishing, swimming, boating (seadooing, jetskiing, etc.), and beautiful scenery! Most of the camping spots are nice and shaded, and the ones at the back of Ray Behrens have some view of the lake. There are tours of the Clarence Cannon Dam, on weekends, but you can still see a lot of the beauty when they open the gates of it; the water just comes pouring out. It seems like there are many  "secret places" around the lake, and in other spots past the campground, that we keep discovering every time we go up there! If you would rather swim in a place that isn't as "open" then the Landing would be a good place. The Landing has a mini water park, and mini golf. http://www.cannondam.com/fishingreport/

St. Joe State Park (location: Park Hills) Gather your atvs, dirtbikes, any off road vehicle you have and bring them here! There is a place set aside at St. Joe where you can ride your off road vehicles, but you must have the off road vehicle registered. At St. Joe there are camping spots, places for fishing, and places for swimming. Of course, like every other park, there are walking trails.
http://www.mostateparks.com/stjoe.htm


Illinois:

Ott and Ikes Fish Stand (location: Millstadt) This fish stand provides some nice homemade fried fish, fries, and cole slaw. It's just a little fish stand, but the food they serve says more than just "small fish stand food." For a plate of a fish sandwich (hearty pieces of fish), a nice pile of fries, and a helping of cole slaw, you are looking around 7 dollars. Now, this might sound like a lot, but this is some GOOD homecooked food. They are only open on weekends though. There is the Ott and Ikes bar right next to the fish stand. I'm pretty sure kids are allowed in there, because anyone is allowed to eat their fish sandwiches in there.

Alton (location: Alton) Alton all together is a great place for entertainment. The Lewis and Clark bridge, Raging Rivers, the small town of Elsah, and the Finn Inn all accompany Alton. I don't really think anyone ever notices the small town of Elsah, because it is not all that noticable off the long river road. A friend of our families owns a house in the town of Elsah, and I love staying there. It's a cute little town, with well decorated houses, that you will find on the way up to the scientology college. There is a nice bed and breakfast here, and a restaurant called "My Just Desserts." The Finn Inn is great too! Giant fish tanks full of all kinds of fish line the walls of the restaurants. I have not had their fish, but I love their fried chicken. Every time I have been there, the food has always come hot, and it is usually not a long wait. The fishies in the tanks are actuall my favorite part!
http://www.visitalton.com/index.cfm

The Great Godfrey Corn Maze (location: Godfrey) I have not gotten the chance to actually explore this, but we have driven into the park where it is located to check it out. To my brother it seemed (last year) like a waste of time because it looks so small, but 7 acres of corn can be alot of fun! So, I haven't actually got to experience this for myself, but it honestly looks like it could provide a good time!
http://www.greatgodfreymaze.com/

I'll more than likely add more to this list. Esepcially to Illinois, because I know for a fact it is lacking great places.

I love the Zits comics. They bring humor to parents and teens alike about how it is for todays generation of teenagers. So, parents feel free to laugh at these, and make some connections with your teen and these comics. :) I hope they will bring some light and laughter to your days.

Courtesy of ArcaMax Comics

“(KMOV)- An Arnold mother frustrated by her 15 year old’s smoking habit, sent a strong message to him and thousands of others. Lori Carron made a sign saying her son, Chucky smoked and lied to his parents, and made him wear it at a busy intersection. After taking away his TV and phone didn’t work, she decided something extreme might be more effective. Carron smokes and has tried to quit for years. She said she doesn’t want Chucky to go through what she’s gone through. A licensed counselor told News 4 he doubts this punishment will be effective long term. However, Chucky said he’s learned his lesson and won’t smoke again.”

When I first heard about this, I hadn’t seen the story on t.v.; my parents told me. I honestly didn’t believe them when they told me what happened, but then I watched it on t.v. and I’m thinking, “Oh my gosh. I went to school with him!” I don’t anymore, but I just couldn’t believe that a mother would do this. At first when I was thinking about writing this blog, I was going to approach it from one side and one side only. But then when I actually started thinking about Chuckys mom’s point of view, I realized that the views about this ‘punishment’ will probably conflict.

I can see his mom’s point of view. She wanted to give him a punishment that she thought would fit and make him not want to do it again. She wanted to protect him from making the same mistake that she did, and doing this was her way of showing she loved him. Maybe she thought that if she would choose this punishment and give him embarrassment then the next time he would think about smoking he would think back on what his mom put him through. I do understand that the story says that nothing else worked and so she resorted to this because she believed it would work, also. I can see how this is true because being a parent (which I’m not) when the child doesn’t follow the punishment that they were given, the parent has to think of something else that will work. All of this that I wrote is how I percieved it, and maybe some of these things are false or just completely wack.

I can also see how this was wrong, and didn’t prove much. Making him stand out in front of oh I don’t know 200 or so passing cars did not help him learn a lesson. The embarrassment of doing that will probably stay for no longer than a month, then whose to say that he won’t do it again? I’m not saying that he will or won’t, I’m just saying that teenagers are going to screw up; if not once maybe twice or more than that. It’s all a part of growing up and learning. I think that bringing the public in on their business shouldn’t have been done, because that is their business and not anyone elses. That’s just like me saying saying over the intercom at school (if I had access. that Suzy is not longer a virgin. That was Suzy’s choice, and I don’t think that everyone else should be let in on that. What Chucky did might have been wrong in his mother’s eyes, but causing his embarrassment might not keep him from doing it again. All it did was tell people what he did, and give them insight about him. I’m not really sure how this was actually a punishment. I believe that his mom thought of this punishment from watching a news story back a few months ago about a mother giving a punishment vaguely familiar to this. All that did was give people ideas on how to illogically parent their child.

Think I’m wrong? Tell me. Think my opinions are correct? Tell me. I think from both points of view you can tell how I feel about what happened. I don’t really know Chucky much anymore, but when I saw this on t.v. about how this could happen, I had to tell my feelings about it.

I'm going to end this post by saying that I am quite aware that I am not a parent, and maybe I don't know the ins and outs of it. I'm just looking at this from how I see it; the right from the wrong, the logical from the illogical. Think I'm right tell me? Think I'm wrong? Tell me. I want to get feedback about this.

About a few weeks ago I was at the mall (SoCo) with my friend, and we decided to go into Radio Shack. We really didn't have any intention of buying from there, but we just wanted to look around at their stuff because you have to admit there are some pretty neat things in there. So, we are looking at the phones they have and obviously being curious at what they do, so we weren't being rude, and just pressing buttons on them. So a worker comes over behind us and starts acting like he is looking on the computer. I'm not an idiot, I looked over his shoulder and realized he wasn't even looking up anything. So, me and my friend moved on to where they have toys for kids, and musical things. We were over in that "aisle" for not even 5 minutes and here comes the same guy, and he starts pretending like he is rearranging some items hanging up. Me and my friend started talking so I figured he would have left, but no he didn't. So we thought we would play his game and moved over to some other electronics to see if he would follow us, and he didn't...and about two minutes later he walked passed to look at us. I was about to make a comment about him thinking we were trying to steal something but my friend happened to steal my thunder. She said, "Gosh, you can stop following us, we aren't stealing anything." I'm not sure if he heard, but I hope he did. After this he let us go look around, and we just left. I do have to add that even when we walked in there he didn't greet us; all he did was look up at us and hurry up and follow us. I'm an honor student, but it really doesn't even take that to realize that Radio Shack is not the place to steal from. Their items are pretty expensive and that means that obviously have good security. I RARELY hear of a teenager stealing something from a mall.

On a side note: I went into this same Radio Shack with my dad about 3 weeks prior and the gentleman who we had talked to was very friendly, and his eyes didn't follow me wherever I went in the store.

I can admit that I know people around my age  (older and younger), that yes, would do something like that. My friend and I really don't look threatening, and if I might say (don't want to sound judgmental with this statement) we don't look like little punks who are just out to wreak things and mess with elders. I really wish that older people (meaning from 25 and up.) I don't know if anyone that is reading this has ever judged a teenager as being "bad news" but we really are not all "bad." Actually we are all good, and have good hearts, but some get lost along the way with peer pressure and not realize right from wrong sometimes. I don't want this to be a complaint blog, but I'm just tired of going somewhere with a friend and getting looks from older people (you know what I mean) like we are up to no good and are like those teenagers that may have gotten lost along the way. What I want for you to get out of this mass of a blog, is to not judge us teenagers..or actually people all together. I know there are probably people reading this that work in a store and encounter teens all the time. But, when you see them next time don't hurry up and assume that they are going to do something bad, and steal something. I'm not trying to tell anybody how to do their job, because I know that people steal and then there is that risk that you get in trouble. Just try to be understanding, and realize that todays youth is not a monster that is out to be nasty and take everyone down. To those people who are reading this that don't automatically judge teenagers, thank you. :)

I was watching the news last night, and they had just gotten to a story about a cardinals fan death. At first when I heard this I was thinking that maybe something happened while she was either in the stadium or leaving after a game. But then I heard the rest of the facts about the story.

I didn't really see why her being a Cardinals fan was mentioned in the story. I mean I don't know all of the details about her life or anything, maybe she was a big Cardinals fan and never missed a game, I don't know. I just didn't understand why they deemed her "they Cardinals fan that passed away." She was going for a jog, which really has nothing to do with the Cardinals at all. I'm sorry, but I think that if someone passes away the attention should be pointed toward that and not a sports team; that's why they have a special segment called "sports." If anybody has any more information about this part of the story, then please leave a comment to clear things up.

Hearing that a drunk driver had done this, made me upset. I have strong opinions about drunk driving and just liquor in general. I don't think it's right for someone to go out and get wasted for their "pleasure," but then go out driving and cause someone else pain; people that do not deserve it. I do not even see how liquor is a pleasure even at all. All it does is cause pain. It causes pain to your health, it causes pain to family members and friends (if you like to party a lot, or are a severe alcoholic), and it causes pain to people that you have never even met and who are just trying to live. But when they were going on with the story I started to get frustrated. They were barely even directing attention toward the fact that the person that did the damage was drunk and careless. It seemed like they barely even acknowledged what had happened. The drunk driver is getting away and will probably continue his awful heartbreaking habit, and not realize. I didn't even hear if the drunk driver is going to get punished, or even much about what HE did. In my opinion instead of directing more attention the Cardinals, the direction should be toward the drunk driver that caused the pain; the Cardinals didn't really have any relation to this.

My heart really does go out to the family. I wish the best for them, and justice for the person that did it. Jesus is watching over her and her family. My heart also does go out to school that she worked at. Hearing about this was heartbreaking, and hit some points that were close to home for me. I hope that at least somebody tonight will think twice before taking a drink of their Jack Daniels, then hopping into their SUV and trying to forget everything they have ever once known...

I had such a wonderful fourth of July. My family and I went down to Valmeyer, Illinois to watch the fireworks there; which was a change from all of the other years. We were going to stop by the Ott and Ike’s fish stand in Millstadt, but that was closed; so we opted for Dairy Queen. The food was great, and the view of the sunset was breath taking. The rays from the sun were streaming through the clouds. After we got done at Dairy Queen we took a ride through Valmeyer because the fireworks were long from starting. I never really realized how much farmland Illinois really has! I’ve been there thousands of times (literally), but very few times on the roads we drove on yesterday, and I saw at least 4 farms with cows on them. We also passed some baby billy goats too! The farmland was so beautiful, even though it was mostly crops; I don’t get to see a lot of farmland here in Missouri. It felt nice being out in the country, with the peaceful sunset not far behind.


So, we finally got to where the fireworks were, and we were waiting in the car for at least 45 minutes before they actually started. I was looking around before they started and it was totally different than the sights I probably would have seen in Missouri. Everyone was parked in the fields, and when I rolled down my window it was almost completely silent outside! The fresh cut grass country air was nice; except the mosquitoes really weren’t. The fireworks finally came at 9:00, and the beginning of them was great! It honestly look like lava from a volcano shooting out! They lasted about 45 minutes and every one of them that was shot off was not disappointing. They sounded like huge cannons firing off. My fourth of July was way different than any other year, and I will definitely remember the goodness of that night for a long time.

How was your fourth of July?

I'll have pictures up later.

    Is possible for any person who likes to text a lot or email their friends a lot, to talk properly? It seems like almost every time I talk to a friend around my age or even a little older, they always use the "text talk," or type LiKe ThIs, or even write how they talk; meaning yo dude it's ight if you don't like dis movie. Improper grammar is one of my BIGGEST pet peeves.
    The "text talk" is something that I can handle. I mean I understand what the person is trying to say, it's not like I have to sit there for a hour trying to figure out what they just said to me. [For those of you that might not be up on the "lingo" examples of  "text talk" are lol (laugh out loud), omg (oh my gosh), and idk (I don't know), there's many others though.] It just bugs me because if that person is taking time out of there day to talk to me, I at least want to have a meaningful conversation with them. When people use the "text talk" it's like they are in a hurry to go off and text there other friends, so they are trying to shorten the conversation and the amount of time that they are talking to me. Why can't people just say what they mean instead of having to hide it in an abbreviation? Why can't somebody just say "I don't know," instead of idk. It's like they are trying to hide what they have to say. But I do understand that sometimes people do get in a hurry and they only have a limited amount of time so they try to shorten the conversation as much as they can. Even then they could text me back later, and actually have a conversation with me.
    Typing LiKe ThIs or even LIKE THIS, is probably the most annoying thing. I don't know if people think that it makes them look cool [?] or if it's a fad, but it's aggravating to me. Why can't somebody just say in an email "Hey, do you want to go to the park this afternoon?", instead of  "hEy, dO yOu wAnT tO Go 2 tHe pArK tHiS aFtErNoON?" Plus that itself just takes way to long to type. Just say what you mean and don't add different ways to say it, to it.  When I read something that someone typed in caps it makes me think that they are angry or are firmly trying to get a point across. I've actually read peoples (meaning from about ages 12-25) about me's, or even blogs that ARE IN ALL CAPS. It's like they are shouting. Those ways of typing both should be avoided unless you're yelling at someone through a text message or email..which doesn't work out anyway.
    It seems like most teenagers these days have gotten into the habit of writing how they talk. A handful of people that I know personally talk the same way the write. Their speech and language are lazy, so to speak. It just confuses me though, why they are typing like they talk. I mean it's a lot harder to control what's coming out of your mouth and HOW it is coming out, then writing it through some kind of technological device, because you have more time to think about it. An example of writing how you talk is "Dude it's ight if you wanna get the yellow paint, it still hella tight." (sorry if I just offended anyone.) This is honestly like trying to decipher  one of those secret messages. The "secret messages" aren't always this easy to figure out, especially if the person forgot a letter in a word and it looks like another word.
    I realize that a lot of people that are reading this more than likely won't be able to relate to this, because you probably didn't grow up around computers or cell phones. If you work in an office or you email a friend and they talk in one or more of the ways that I explained, then you can catch my drift. I know some companies do you some "text talk" when writing back and forth to each other but that's only because it's a work environment, and it's pretty busy, and I'm sure that there is someone out there that has no idea what the person on the other end of the email just said. That's why I wish proper grammar was better reinstated into teenagers heads today.

On a side note, if anyone here has kids that type like this or talk like this, please don't be offended that I am picking out that pet peeve and ranting about it.

Comments are welcomed. :)
      

     "A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."


    What is a friend? That is the question that I have been wondering for a while now. I could never really figure out what a friend is. I know the definition is in the dictionary, and it should be a pretty simple answer, but it really isn't. I always thought that a friend is someone that you come in contact with and talk to a lot, and even share some laughs. But I found out that a lot more makes up a friend.

    This past year something happened to me that enabled me to not be able to see the people that I considered "friends." At first I was heartbroken, because I mean those were the people that meant so much to me, and then they were just taken away from me because I had little to no contact with them. For a while I kept looking back on all of the great memories we had, and regretted not getting closer to some of the people that really did seem like good people. And then I realized that if they were truly my friends then they would have called to see how I was doing, or at least shot me an email; but they didn't. So I tried my best to forget about all of that, and took this in stride and focused a lot more on me.

    After a while, I started getting used to the fact that a lot of my friends stopped caring, and had forgotten about me. I then realized that there were actually people all along that did care about me, and honestly these were the people that I barely even spoke to. It showed me that anyone can find friends other than school, and that your friends don't have to have certain interests as you or even be the same age as you. We might not be the best of friends, but these people are the people that I know I can come to when the rest of the world has gone mad.

    So, enough about me. Friends can be any age, any gender, and have any interest, and it takes a real one to stick by you; no matter any of those things. You could have a friend who is an old lady down the road who you enjoy speaking to about some of the crazy things that she has done in her past. Or you friend could even be your dog!! The dictionary definition of friend is: a person you know well and regard with affection and trust. But my definition of the word friend is: someone that cares about you, doesn't care about your mistakes or even how different you are, and someone that walks in when the rest of the world walks out.

   I hope you got at least something out of this. :)

The weather in 2008 so far has been crazy. At least twice a week we have extreme weather. Whether it be all of the large amounts of snow and rain, and even the nasty tornadoes and high winds that some of us have experienced.

I remember the first major snow that I experienced this year. It went on through the 30th and 31st of January. I seriously never saw so much snow in my life! Over those 2 days we got at least a foot of snow. When I stepped in it, it went up to my boots (which were pretty high!) That was the most snow over the course of 24 hours, that I have ever seen. All of the other snow that we got in years past was not more than 6 or 7 inches. This was awesome though! I helped my dad build a snowman, and I took A LOT of pictures. It was the best winter ever. :)

All of the rain we have been getting has been even more hectic. Around the area where I live, the flooding hasn't really been that extreme. But then I look on the news everyday and see that there are many people out there whose house is floating away. It's weird, because I keep asking myself "How can something made purely of oxygen and hydrogen, and something so light, cause this much damage?" My heart goes out to the people who have to suffer through all of this. I seriously could not imagine what it's like. This is a pretty big event for me, because when the flood of 1993 was here, I was young.

So, if anyone is reading this has had something happen to them in their life caused by mother nature, I am thinking of you daily. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about what is going on, and how it is effecting those around me. I know that I am just one person, but the power of praying and positive thoughts, can be powerful even from one person. But, things do get better over time. You just have to believe that everything will be okay again because "everything is okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it is not the end." And I truly believe that that quote is true.

Earth Day proved to be a very eventful day. I got up at about 11, which is pretty huge for me, because I was so excited about it. The ride there was probably the best part for me. Except for the fact that there was no entertainment in the car except the radio, and I was parched. In the course of 2 hours our car moved about a mile and a half. But, in that short of a distance I was having such a good time. It was crazy, people were getting out of their cars to go into places like McDonalds to get food, and go to the bathroom, and such. Which is completely understandable because cars were at a standstill most of the time.  While on the road, smoke started pouring out of the girl's car who was sitting next to us. I thought it was overheating, so I hurried up and closed my window, because I didn't know if it was capable of producing a whole lot more smoke; which by the way smelled really bad. It finally stopped though. Well, when the traffic started picking up, I saw there was a piece of paper sticking out of the car window. It said, "My car supports 420." I thought that was pretty funny how "the kids" in the car thought that up. Finally 2  hours later, we managed to get there. It was about 4 'o clock.  When I got out of the car and looked out over where all the sponsors booths were set up, I was truly amazed. It looked nothing like I thought it was. I had been to an Earth Day one time before, but I was about 7 and I don't remember it much. All of the sponsors [that we actually managed to visit] had something great to offer. Whether it be jewelry, or clothes made without chemicals, or even the food. The lemonade I had there had a bitter sweet taste, but I liked it because it tasted home made. The first place that we went was to the St. Louis Animal Rights Team's booth. That was my favorite one because they really do believe in animals rights, and they are for the animals, and not just about making a profit from them. The others that we went to mostly contained jewelry or some kind of clothing. There was a 5th wheel looking thing set up that was pretty cool. Inside of it it looked something like a museum. There were bugs, a polar bear's fur, and other things associated with science. There was even a centipede that looked like it was at least a 6 inch long millipede. By the time 6 o' clock hit, I was ready for home. It just felt great being out on a beautiful day, and enjoying the many things that there were offered. This Earth Day was really one for me to remember.