Meet Jessica J.!

We would like to take a little time to connect with our USA Cheerleader fans by introducing ourselves! 

Our first featured Cheerleader is 

Jessica J.:

Birth Place: Alexandria, Louisiana

  

Current Location: Laurel, Maryland

Years on the Squad: 1 year

Prior Cheerleading/Dance experience: 

Reservoir High School Varsity Cheerleading, 3 years 

Reservoir High School Dance Company, 1 year

Operation Dance New Orleans Dance Team, 2 years
Washington Eagles Cheerleaders, 1 year

College: 

Louisiana State University, Bachelor of Science. 

Howard University, Master of Social Work 

Occupation: Licensed General Social Worker (LGSW) at Episcopal Center for Children 

Career Goal: I have just recently graduated with my MSW and completed the testing to receive my General Social Work License. My ultimate goal is to complete my supervision hours and receive my clinical social work license to continue doing therapy and working in the mental health field.

Lifetime Goal: To be a great wife, mother, career woman and be able to enjoy my life. As well as doing my duty to give back to our community, and specifically our nation’s military.

Hobbies: Crafting, scrapbooking, watching football, cheerleading, dance, playing piano, and drawing/art.

Pets: Ace the long haired Chihuahua

Most memorable moment as a USA Cheerleader: Walking in the Veterans Day parade in New York City was my most memorable moment as a USA Cheerleader. With my birthday being Nov. 11^th (veterans day), and being such a supporter of the military, it has always been a special day for me. Being able to do my part to show support for our veterans, in New York, and on my birthday, it was just all around amazing!! Such a great experience to see the faces of our Veterans enjoying the event!

Favorite TV Show: Law and Order SVU, Army Wives, True Blood

Favorite Movie: Transformers 1, 2, 3, & 4

Favorite Book: Harry Potter Series, Mortal Instruments Series, Hunger Games Trilogy

Favorite Restaurant: Texas de Brazil

Favorite Place to Vacation: Bahamas, Cancun, Florida

Someday I would love to visit: Japan!!

Words to live by/favorite quote: Just to always be yourself!

Describe your personal style: Laid back. I feel so comfortable in sweats and t-shirts anything to lounge around in. But when the occasion calls for it, I love to get all dressed up as well.

Favorite sport to play: Soccer

Favorite time of year: Fall, because it’s football season!!

Fun facts: Most people don’t know that I was a tomboy growing up who played soccer and did karate until high school.

On the contrary, I’m also a late blooming beauty pageant queen. I started at age 16. I competed in Miss Maryland Teen USA 2006 as my first pageant and placed in the Top 15 out of 150 contestants. I've held the titles of Miss Baker Buffalo Festival Rose Queen XVII, Miss Liberty Belle, and Miss Armed Forces 2011. My most memorable experience was traveling for the year as Miss Armed Forces. I attended various events throughout Louisiana, representing all 5 branches of the US Armed Forces and working with the Mayor of Lake Charles’ Armed Forces Commission. It was amazing to meet so many veterans and current service members, and to hear their stories and experiences. 

 Reason I choose to volunteer my time to USA Cheerleaders: Because supporting the military is something very near and dear to my heart. With my dad being an Air Force veteran, multiple family members who are veterans and still serving, and a fiancé who is active duty Army, I strongly advocate for our military. I hope to some day be able to use my career to help military members and their families in the mental health field. 

A picture is worth 1000 words. Come and win one!

As a wife in a military family (Hi, I'm Charli- writer of this blog; nice to meet you!), I value pictures so much. I have lived in 3 states in the last 5 years. I have said hello and goodbye to many good people, lived in a few different houses and added to our family along the way. It is so nice to be able to look back on a season of my life and have proof that it existed, if it was only for a little while.

Turning pictures into art is even more fun, and adds a little flair to your generic picture wall decor. Anna, owner of the Etsy shop AlovesL, takes ordinary photos and turns them into whimsical pieces of art by producing custom pencil sketch/watercolor paintings.

I really feel like these portraits are something that anyone could appreciate. In fact, it might be my newest go-to gift for the people in my life that are hard to buy for (if you are reading this, surprise! you might be getting one of these for Christmas)

For people who move often like me, how cute would it be to have a gallery wall of all of the homes you have lived in?  

Who loves these as much as me?
  Well, guess what, you can win! 

Anna has been so generous to donate a $50.00 credit to her shop to winner of our giveaway this week! Check out her shop here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/AlovesL and enter below. 

The giveaway will be open for entries until Saturday morning when the winner is chosen by random number generator.

June 2013 event pictures

So far this June, the USA Cheerleaders have made appearances at 3 east coast events.

On Thusday June 5, Jackie and Stephanie appeared as boxing ring girls at an NYPD fundraiser police boxing event called "Knocking Out Autism" in New York City. All of the proceeds from this event went to the Autism Foundation.

Cause supported: http://www.thecenterforautism.org/autismfoundation

On Saturday June 7, a group of our girls attended the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team (WWAST) vs. NFL players fundraiser softball game at the Bowie Baysox stadium in Maryland. They were able to mingle with fans and players, and sold raffle tickets during the game to support several charities that received proceeds from the event. The wounded warriors beat the NFL stars, and the game raised over $50,000 for these causes:

http://www.yellowribbonfund.org/

http://www.woundedwarrioramputeesoftballteam.org/

http://www.connectedwarrior.org/

http://www.disabledsportsusa.org/

Above, pictured posing with members of the WWAST, from left to right, are cheerleaders: Stephanie B., Danielle B., Wendi, Alicia, and Jessica

On Thursday June 11, Jackie and Elizabeth attended the annual Army week Golf tournament at Dyker beach golf course in Brooklyn, NY, where they delivered drinks to the players and mingled with fans.

USA Cheerleaders are currently booking more volunteer events for July!

Giveaway time! Tomorrow, Wednesday July 25th, I will be announcing our next giveaway item and you will have another chance to WIN!!

#TBT, bikini style!

It's summertime, the official time of backyard barbeques, pool sessions and snow cones! (Some great summer recipes to follow, stay tuned).

In honor of the official season changeover to SUMMER this weekend, here are some Throwback Thursday pictures from 2009, during the photo session for the 2010 USA Cheerleaders calendar. 

 

Would you like to see another USA Cheerleader Calendar? 

Help make the next USA Cheerleader Calendar a possibility by sponsoring now! Contact Executive Director of USA Cheer, Ken Martin at Kencheer2000@aol.com for information on sponsorship for the next team calendar, and/or the 2014-15 team photo! Sponsorship will ensure that your business logo/info will be passed around the United States, and the world! 

AND don't forget to enter this free wreath giveaway! http://theusadish.blogspot.com/2014/06/giveaway.html

Winner will be picked tomorrow, and YOU have a great shot at winning!

Giveaway!

You know those times when you see something on Pinterest and you think to yourself, "I can totally make that!"

And then you try. You head out to the store all optimistic and manage to find things that are kind of similar to what you need, and when you get them home you immediately set out to work on your masterpiece. After you stab your self with some pins and hot glue the majority of your fingers to one another,  you then realize you may have left the store without a key component to this craft. Clearly you aren't going back to the store, you are already in this! You improvise a little, adapt and overcome and BOOM done. Nailed it! And then you sigh in defeat and search on Etsy for something handmade by someone else. Someone who has skills, and still has all the skin on their fingers.

Or maybe that's just me.

Luckily for us all, there are 2 fabulous ladies who were generous enough to donate a lovely handmade wreath to the winner of this giveaway. That's right, not just one but TWO chances to win!

NUMBER 1

If you win giveaway item 1, you will win a $50.00 wreath of your choice or shop credit (plus free shipping!) from our first contributor, Danielle Angel. Danielle is the owner of the Etsy shop 'Creative Wreath Concepts', girlfriend of an Air Force reservist, and former cheerleader of 7 years. She fits right in with us here at USA Cheer! She loves working with the military community and has had an overwhelming response to her branch themed wreaths since adding them to her shop. She has other great items, both patriotic and just plain cute. Check out her shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CreativWreathConcept to see what you could win! 

NUMBER 2

If you win giveaway item 2, you will win a $50.00 wreath of your choice or shop credit (plus free shipping!) from our second contributor, Gina Emerson.  Gina is a wife, mother and wreath maker with a Masters degree  in teaching. As a former 5th grade teacher turned stay at home mom, Gina found herself decorating for each season as a hobby, which then expanded to helping others do the same. She started her business 'Creative Spaces by Gina' on Etsy in January 2014 and she has since enjoyed helping others create inviting spaces in their homes. Gina currently offers over 200 items in her shop! Check out her shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CreativeSpacesbyGina to see what you could win!

To Enter:

Follow instructions below. Winners will be announced via blog post on Friday June 20th! 

Share share share this giveaway with your facebook friends! You will get extra "referral" entries when others enter using your link! 

Welcome, friends!

Hi friends!

Welcome to the inaugural post of theUSAdish, blog home of the USA Cheerleaders!

The USA Cheerleaders are making big changes this year by adding teams in new states! We want to be more involved and engaged with our fans, so this blog was created to show event coverage, to let the public get to know the members of the team, and of course, other random and fun posts to generally celebrate patriotism! We all have this in common- we love the United States and support the US military!

 

We appreciate our fans, and to show our gratitude we will kick off tomorrow with a GIVEAWAY! In tomorrow's post, you will have a chance to enter and WIN one of these fantastic decor items.

 

 

With 4th of July right around the corner, don't miss your chance to enter to WIN!!

 

Feel free to contact us at theUSAdish@gmail.com or in the comments. What do you want to see featured on the blog?  We would love to hear from you!