Practice and Temporary Bows

So you know how I missed Homecoming Coreography because I was in Alaska. Yeah well it's pretty hard to pick up a whole two minute routine in a short practice. Luckily, I'm a quick learner so I picked up the dance from my friend Serenity and got the tumbling section today. However we have a bit of a crisis with the whole stunting situation.

So my friend Taylor tells me that I'm in her stunt group and I'm put as a main base. So I rush over to Taylor and go to learn my new part as we are doing the routine full out and I see a girl who's basing. And I'm confused like "so.. am I backspotting? But Taylor told me I base?" The girl who was basing in my spot asked if I could back spot because she'd already learned the basing counts. Well I have no problem with learning the backspot position, infact I don't even mind it at all. The only problem is, it's an extension lib, and I am 5'2". I don't know if I will be able to reach that high! I told her it was no problem, but we'll have to see if it hits because I'm not very tall.

That's all of homecoming I did and I know very little which bothers me because I hate not knowing our routine full out. On the plus side, since our game bows haven't arrived yet, we got temporary bows! They are silver sparkle with a purple band around the middle. Thank god we got some color because our white practice bow is not as fun as these are. Hopefully our official bows are awesome too!


Temporary Bow!

Then we worked on our halftime. Turns out the main flyer in our routine, also named Taylor but with the last name M. is having surgerey and can't perform the stunts. So I suggested to Taylor to have Maddy (my other best friend) step in and I take her spot back spotting. Because her and I both flew for Frosh and JV stunts. But Cassie pushed me into the stunt group and said "have Larissa fly!" and so there before you know it I got my wings back and flew! I looked at Haley who is my main base and told her I haven't flown in a while and she said "well you do now" It's just a simple show 'n' go to a prep, but the fact that it's the center position is something new. And it actually hit really well. Our show 'n' go was fully extended and our cradle from prep was awesome.

Well after practice, Maddy and I went and got Starbucks for half off and spent a whole hour in the parking lot talking and dancing and what not. It got to be dark and we both realized this was like.. the wierd part of Concord and we might get killed in a gang shooting if we didn't head home early enough.

Now all I want is a shower, because that was like the first official work out I'd done in a while since the cruise and I am a hot mess! Well thought I'd share my new position with you guys and what's happening. It's just a temporary spot, but who knows. Maybe this could lead into potential new stunts. I forgot what a thrill it is to be in the air.

First Football Game!

One game down... 9 to go! (I think..) Today was alot of fun, and I had a super awesome time cheering for Varisty and bonding with the squad. It started off at the JV game when I met up with Taylor and C.C. to support Junior Varisty. That was all good fun and it was awesome watching the girls we knew as freshmen lead and be good examples. Then we as the Varsity team went to go practice.

This is where it got kind of crazy. You see, in the beginning stunt sequence I walk from the front of the jump sequence to the front stunts and front spot. However, since Maddy was gone the back stunt didn't have a backspot. Me being the only extra front spot had to go learn a new part. And mind you, I'm 5'2" so I've never been asked to backspot, nor try it. So this was something new! I had to sprint to this new spot and get there on time and support and catch my flyer. Granted, I actually like back spotting and now I can officially say that I've done everything! I have flown, I've front spotted, main based, and secondary based, as well as backspotted! I guess that means I'm a very diverse person ;)

The captains went over and welcomed the Alhambra cheerleaders to the game and wished them good luck and the game started! It was fun calling chants and stuff, and that's what I missed out on last year as Co-Captain. It was never made clear to me if we actually get to call cheers. However, this year Sammi was all for switching off with the other two Co-Captains.

We set our standards, and can't wait to improve! Our next game is gonna be even better! But you know what I'm really looking forward to? Our first away game. As Jvosh (JV & Frosh) we were only allowed to do one away game. And since last year the one we had scheduled was against Mt. Diablo we weren't allowed to go considering past events. Now we travel! But of course...JV is now too which is kinda dumb cause that's the first year and it's supposed to be a varisty privalige! But whatever, I'm just excited to be on someone else's turf and show them what College Park is all about!

Anyway, that was our game and I had an awesome time! Oh I know I've been promising new uniform pictures but I never got around to it today. So this is one I took when we first got it. I promise to have one by the end of football season no later with my full uniform, bow, and cheer hair. But aside from that, hope everyone had an awesome day and I will keep you informed on what's next in the Cheer Chapter!

First Game Jitters!

Tomorrow is our first official game of the season, and I'm so excited! Our rival is Alhambra... and that's who we always play for the first game. It's the biggest deal ever, so it's important that we win and show them who's boss!

We get to wear our uniforms and be all sparkly and awesome which I am looking forward too. The only bummer thing is that we didn't get our bows on time :( I don't even know what they look like and it's KILLING ME! I want giant purple bows with like rhinestones and sparkles and everything, because we're varsity and that's how it should be.

I feel like our Freshmen Year we were punished because first of all, we didn't even have our uniforms for the first game. It never hit me until my Sophomore year how much of a priority it was that we have our uniforms. Secondly, our game bows were just regular white bows, with a different cut than our practice bows. You could have worn the practice bows and no one could tell the difference!

Moving on from that past year nightmare, there's a new crisis at large. We will have to wear our practice bows for the first game! This is totally ridiculious, I wanted to look our best for the biggest game of the year, but we'll have these wimpy little bows. I don't even know how to wear a practice bow all cheery and peppy and whatnot!

Captains made a big deal about cheer hair and how it needs to be all the way up in a super high ponytail with our bangs slicked out of our face. You don't understand how high this is. Put the palm of your hand at your eyebrows and your middle finger on the top of your head. Wherever your finger stops is where your ponytail should be. On mine that's super high, and I personally like it when it's high but not like whoo-ville status where it's on top of your head.

I'm not gonna let any of that get me down though, I'm just gonna keep the spirits up and cheer my heart out! Hopefully everyone else has an awesome first game or competition ahead of them, good luck to all! I will write later about how it went with pictures to follow, I pinky promise :)

Back from Alaska!

Hey guys, I'm home!! After a long 10 day cruise it's finally nice to be back in California just relaxing and enjoying the land. I found out some new stuff:

1. Lots of old people go on cruises
2. People tend to get really fat and eat alot on those cruises
3. I get sea sick

So a couple practices before we left I was learning some new stunting techniques. And considering we have  14 seniors and 4 juniors, it's a little hard sharing the lime light with the "Senior Showcase." So I was learning how to base, and mind you, I'd been a flyer my entire cheer carreer. Well I have the muscle for basing because I'm a tumbler so it wasn't difficult for me. And now it seems like that's my new position.

The first thing I did when I docked in Alaska was text Taylor and find out what my parts are in Homecoming Coreography. I front alot of stunts, but I base a prep switch grip extension lib. I've never done that... ever! I guess they have alot of faith in me, but still I'm really nervous.

Anyway, tomorrow we're gonna go over a couple chants at DVC so we're prepared for our game this Friday. Can you believe it, our first game is this Friday! I'm so excited! I'll get a picture of my squad and I in our uniform before the week is over, I promise :)

School starts on the 29th of August, so hopefully I find time to continue to blog. Keep on reading, and I'm still up for any stories you're willing to share or suggestions on future topics, just e-mail me. It's nice to be home :) Hope everyone is having an awesome end of August/beginning of the school year!

Banner Decoration & New Uniforms :)

Today was a cheer-tastic day! I got to College park around 9am so we could start making bannars for our football games. You know, the ones the cheerleaders hold as the football players run through them yelling and screaming the cries of their people sounding all manly and what not. Yeah so we got all designful and created 10 gorgeous banners. Serenity even painted a smiley face on my leg with the purple paint! Sadly, it turned pink :( Which meant our banners were gonna be pink too! Hopefully we can go back over them with some darker colors..

Anyway, whilst the banners were drying we went over the chants we'll have to be performing at games. I think everyone did really well, even though we haven't gone over all of them. But the new girls know many of the main chants we do repetitively at games. Then once that was finished we got pizza and sat with our squad. Our instructions were to go over what our teammates expect of our Captain and Co-Captain. I don't mind a little constructive criticism and learning what would be appropriate so I was all ears. It was mostly just about being fair, and putting things for the best of the squad not your friends. But I think both Haley, Sammi, and I all get that so it'll be a breeze :)
We also had a little discussion about cheer hair. And as I mentioned before in my Epic Cheerleading Picture I love when All-Star teams curl their hair and put it half up half down with a big poof and sparkly bow. But I think for high school it's a little different because we're not as professional as the Big League. There has been alot of debate as to what our cheer hair should look like. Some like a low pony tail, others like it in the middle, and some like it high. There's always a question of bangs and the little baby hairs that won't go in your ponytail and what not. But this year we decided the ponytail should be towards the top of your head with bows forward and your bangs slicked back and neatly pushed out of your face. Personally, that's how I like it because I can't have hair in my face or I won't be able to see. Also if I had a low ponytail I would step on it when I tumble. There was a bit of arguments on that and questions like "well maybe we can switch it up sometimes" and I wouldn't be apposed to trying that but it's so hard for me personally. However, if the squad comes to a vote on it and the other Captains are ok with it I'd be willing to try.

Finally, what I've been waiting to tell you all since I got home, WE GOT OUR NEW UNIFORMS!!!! They are absolutley gorgeous and I love them <3 I'll post a picture of me in it, with probably my friends later but just to describe tem to you their purple with black and white stripes and a sliver CPHS in the middle. It's super awesome, and I can't wait to see what the bow looks like too!

So yeah that was my day. Sadly, I leave tomorrow for a 10 day cruise and I doubt there will be anything cheer related there but.. we'll see, maybe I can come up with something ;) Anyway I hope you all are having a marvelous day! Comment or message me, and be sure to check out my new Blog "Cheer Bows Are Us" which is all about me and Taylor selling cheer bows! If you're interested let us know :)

Cheer Bows Are Us

So remember how I was talking about possibly selling the bows that Taylor and I made? Well we decided it just might work! So we put together a franchise (at home run business), set up a facebook page, and have a blog for it! You can keep up with any of our new designs and bows on the site we created, here's the link: http://cheerbowsareus.blogspot.com/ Here's our Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/#!/CheerBowsAreUs?notif_t=page_new_likes

Each bow is handmade from scratch and custom designed from what you decide, or one of our premade products. We don't have prices yet, but those will be up soon, and we can ship them to you no matter where you are.

This is something totally new to both of us, but we're really looking forward to spreading the love of cheer bows to everyone out there. Because what's a cheerleader without a bow, nothing! Comment, or e-mail me at larissa_terry@comcast.net or Taylor at tayrazmataz@gmail.com.

Cheer Bows!

On Thursday Taylor and I went to go get supplies to make cheer bows with. We got all sorts of pretty ribbon, glue, and rhinestones. We just had to figure out a day to make them, which I was so excited about because what cheerleader doesn't love cheer bows! I also love having variety to pick from. We had our game bows that the program provided us with, but our Frosh ones were plain white, and our JV ones were purple and white. I got a dark blue one from the 4th of July Parade, and the purple and white sparkly one we ordered for our cheer class at Recreation Summer School. But I needed some variety.

Our school colors are purple, black, and white. So I figured I'd need some bows that would match our camp clothes, as well as any other spirit shirts we'd gotten in the past. But I also have some blue shirts that I like wearing, and blue is my next best favorite color, so we got some of that! I loved spending time with Taylor and making the bows, and now I finally have some variety to pick from. Of course, when we aren't wearing our designated practice clothes with a plain white bow. Maybe we should consider selling them? Is there anyone who might be interested? Let me know!