cassidy merideth cook: I'm Still Alive

Due to my sixth month hiatus, you may be questioning whether or not I am still breathing. Well I'm here to tell you today that I am! And in fact, I am LIVING! High school has got to be the hardest thing I've endured thus far in my 18 years and 8 months. I've completed seven AP classes, three concurrent enrollment classes through SLCC, and all other classes required for graduation and then some...including my gym credit from sophomore year that I finished just a couple weeks before graduation.. :) I graduated with the Honors Diploma and a 3.9 GPA. On top of my classes, I was involved in two choir classes- one of which being Madrigals which meant many many extra practices and performances... as well as performing as a lead in the musical and THE lead in the school play. After that, I kept up with the theater program by participating on the team for the region and state theater competition. I placed first in the Musical Theater category at region and received superiors at state. Our team took first place overall at BOTH region and state and we were ACTUALLY honored at an end of year assembly for the school! They never recognize the arts so it was a real honor to be part of that. I also held a job so that added some spice to my life.... what a joy to be a sandwich artist.................. ;) I did a lot of stuff I loved. I excelled in certain areas. I made friends and traveled (Disney World, Washington D.C., Disneyland, San Francisco) and had experiences I'll never forget. It was an AWESOME three years of my life.

Buuuuut. It killed me. I don't know if I'll ever catch up on the hours of sleep I've missed over the years. I constantly feel exhausted- even now that school is over! I've spent the past few years eating whatever I could find... whether it be good for me or not... (usually I ate cookies for breakfast... starved all day since I had no lunch money... stuffed my face with chips and cookies and other junk after school.... and then wasn't hungry for dinner...).. NEVER exercised (who has time for that?!?)... and stressed more buckets than an ocean can hold. So guess what?!? It's time for some New Year's resolutions. And this time I'm keeping them. I'm dedicated to taking care of my body for the first time in my life because I deserve that! And if I keep these awful habits when I move away to Rexburg (woot woot!) then I'll be gaining more than the Freshmen 15.... plus I just don't think I'll be able to breathe if college is as hard as high school was AND my body is still deteriorating as much as it is now. It just won't be good. So I'm changing it! Here's to a new healthy lifestyle. You can look down on it and think I'm just following a fad diet and being a crazy weight-conscious teenager.... but I am just so sick of being sick. and my body is a temple and deserves to feel GOOD! So here I go. Feel free to join me.

Love you all. Thank you for the support and love throughout my high school years. BYU-Idaho... here I come!... in four months!! :)