Meet Mah Gang (Smives)

Y'ALL I'm particularly excited about this installation of Meet Mah Gang because

Ivy Israel

is one of my freakin' favorite people on this earth.

Gang Member Profile

Codename: Smives

Basic overview: former cross country runner (she's my favorite running buddy...from when I used to run),future Brit, ballin' guitar player,future Vandy student,one of the funniest people on this planet, and nutella enthusiast.

Special Talents:She plays guitar like a boss and is especially talented in leading our Donna Greene group in singing time.She never judges me for my weird antics, in fact she generally approves. HILARIOUS writer...she needs a blog. Ivy is also absolutely brillant. I mean she's vandy bound, and she's one of those awesome smart people who don't rub their intelligence in your face and is always willing to answer my dumb questions. She's going to be British.There's no if ands or buts about it. She is going to live in England running a coffee shop with her extremely attractive and also British husband. Ivy is a legit hipster because she doesn't realize it. She also can consume 2 pans of Sister Shubert rolls along with a jar of nutella in lightning speed. What can I say? She's a stud.

Loves:Nutella, England, sweaters and other such hipster clothing, pints of ice cream, Seagrove Beach (peace, love, sb'10), zumba and hype classes, her family of 7...she has 4 older brothers and I'm more than slightly jealous, the movie Bridesmaids, anything punny or witty, her cat, Fluffy, aka best cat in the world, JH Ranch, and anything that you can wear a t-shirt to.

She's a beaut. 



Ivy is one of my top favorite friends. She sits behind me in first period english and always finds a way to brighten my day, even if it is just me leaning my head back on her desk and creepily smiling at her. She's endearing; she sincerely loves people and is especially gifted in putting up with my overdramatic antics. She's also stinkin hilarious. One time we needed credit for having "written" our first draft of our research paper in AP English in 11th grade so what she did was write a really strong intro and about 3 sentences of her first paragraph, and then copy and paste one particular sentence over and over again with her own commentary for 4 pages. Literally almost wet my pants from laughing so hard. Did I mention how smart she is? One of the perks of standardized testing is that Ingram and Israel are right next to each other in the alphabet so we get to mock the testing system together. Well one time, when we got our PSAT scores back, and I was so excited about my 89%...until I saw Ivy's 98%. I said, "Ivy! I think you made national merit!". Her response, "Oh really? That's awesome." Ok I might be slightly off accuracy but you get the point, she's so smart and doesn't even realize it.

Poor Ivy's shirt hadn't come it, but she was supposed to be
Barnical Boy. Spongebob references are where it's at.

One of my best memories of Ivy is spring break 2010. I was in Seagrove, she was in Seagrove, and so we spent probably close to 8 days in a row together. Those 8 days consisted of us eating unhealthy and extradorinary amounts of food, mainly carribean salad, her mom's bread, pints of ice cream, pizza, and Betty Crocker individual cakes. In addition to eating, we also taunted her cat, ran amuck with others, encountered many situations that would have been sOoOoOoO rOmAnTiC...had we been a member of the opposite sex, and intense people watching on the Seaside beach at night.

Ivy loves England. I love to make her happy, and the easiest and most rewarding way to do that is to bring up England. She even brought me back a coffee mug to add to my collection with the British flag! Her sense of style is also legit hipster...sweaters, skinny jeans, hipster shoes, etc. She dresses like Hermonie Granger/ Emma Watson.

One of my favorite memories of Ivy was her birthday this year. We began the day with Ivy, Anne Pell, and I going to OHOP, just the three of us because everyone else was taking the ACT. They weren't taking because they were in the 34-35 range. Yeah. I didn't take it because I was lazy and could not handle sitting through the science section again. Then we went to the art museum to do a pointless English project which was actually really fun and relaxing. After that we went to Anne's dad's little league football game for the team he coaches, and I got sunburned. Of course. Before watching the Alabama Penn State game with Ivy and my brother, we went to my favorite place known to mankind...Dreamcakes. The day was finished with a surprise party which ensued all of our friends storing Ivy's bathroom in our pjs, eating chinese and red velvet cake, and watching Princess Diaries 2. My Saturday nights in a nutshell.

I freakin' love Ivy. She's relaxed and chill, and absolutely hilarious all at the same time. She is so ADORED by all our friends...she was even voted most dependable for the senior class. Talk about a cool gal that I am SO thankful to know.

To the moon and back,
Allie

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart." -Confucious 

WE #beathoover

Let me set the stage for you: two teams face off in the last area game of the season to decide who is area champs. Mountain Brook is fourth in the state, Hoover is second. Hoover was favored, Hoover was twice our size (both in school population and literally football player size), and Hoover had also beaten Mountain Brook every game for 30 years. And on October 21, 2011, I'm so proud to say that the Mountain Brook Spartans ended that streak.


The hype started at the Spain Park game. As Mountain Brook was closing off the win for the night, the student section began chanting, "We want Hoover". In the next two weeks, it was rare to see a tweet that didn't contain #beathoover. The entire community rose to the call, a community that is known for being...ehh less than what you could call spirited. Some senior guys jumped on this opportunity and began mass organization. They planned, organized, and even held a practice for our student section. You heard right, student section practice. And the thing is 60 students showed up. We can't even get 60 seniors to go to a pep rally. 


Stickers were being made that said "Beat Hoover". They were on cars, people, tweets, profile pictures, etc. People who I had known to not care one lick about Mountain Brook Football were rallying behind the cause. As the day approached, the hype only grew. News teams were calling this the game of the century.  Parking and seats in the stadium were starting to be of concern. Paranoia was high. Everyone wanted to give our guys the best chance possible to win. When the day finally came, I honestly have never seen my school anything like the way it was. We did nothing remotely academic that day. All we talked about was Hoover and our own separate plans for the day. Majority of the students didn't even leave the school, and most were back at 5 in the stands ready to go. When I walked in to warm up to cheer, I was pleasantly surprised to see our stands filled two hours before the game. And not only were they filled with students, they were filled with cheering students. Some guys led them all in cheering and were so loud that we couldn't even hear ourselves cheering. 

I'm not going to lie, I was nervous about this game. I have a 6th sense that just tells me the results of football games and this time, I was not getting any signal. But the second I walked down the hill by the football field house and saw the Hoover Bucs logo on their trailor, I knew that we would win. I felt 100% certain that 30 years of tradition was all ending that night.


We began the pregame ritual of the run through sign. Hoover's fell. Our's didn't. That's all there is to it. 

I think we all know who won this one.

As the game went on, I don't think I focused on anything for 2 hours, nor do I think I was responsive. We scored on our first drive to make it 7-0. They kicked a field goal and then scored a TD minus to an extra point to make it 7-9 for the second half. Mountain Brook scored once more and another field goal to finish it out at 17-9. The last play of the game was Hoover throwing a long pass that was picked off by one of our players, who happened to have just recently returned to play his senior year after being out with an injury since the Vestavia game. All the time our student section was LOUD, and even inspiring. Our new battle cry is "I believe that we will win" and I kid you not it took all I could not to break down every time I heard it. 

MASSIVE student section. This is real life.

When the clock ran out and the game ended, all I felt was a happy blur of emotion and utter happiness. The football players ran over and dived into the student section and soon, the entire fan base came out on to the field to celebrate. A whirl wind was an understatement for what that night was. I hugged so many people I don't think I have ever talked to and it didn't even matter. Everyone was sincerely excited and unified, something that I had though impossible for my school to ever achieve. I can honestly say that it was one of the single greatest nights of my life, let alone high school. 

The best part came the next morning, when the news paper covered the story, telling of Mountain Brook's triumphs and night of glory, ended with a small side section called, "Game Ball". Usually it is reserved for the best player or coach of the game. This time, all it read was "Give this one to the Mountain Brook student section. The support it showed their boys all week was something that hasn't been matched by a home crowd at a big Metro football game in quite some time." Wow. I'm so proud to be a Spartan.

This last one is my favorite. All the senior cheerleaders right after we won.

To the moon and back,

Allie

"Mountain Brook was different. Every Spartan wanted it more Friday and they all got just what they wanted." -Jeff Sentell, Birmingham News, Saturday, October 22, 2011

Long Live -Taylor Swift

I said remember this moment, in the back of my mind
The time we stood with our shaking hands
The crowds and stands went wild
We were the Kings and the Queens
And they read off our names
The night you danced like you knew our lives
Would never be the same
You held your head like a hero
On a history book page
It was the end of a decade
But the start of an age

Long live the walls we crashed through
How the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
I was screaming long live all the magic we made
And bring on all the pretenders
One day we will be remembered

I said remember this feeling
I passed the pictures around
Of all the years that we stood there
On the side-lines wishing for right now
We are the Kings and the Queens
You traded your baseball cap for a crown
When they gave us our trophies
And we held them up for our town
And the cynics were outraged
Screaming this is absurd
Cause for a moment a band of thieves
In ripped up jeans got to rule the world

Long live the walls we crashed through
How the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
I was screaming long live all the magic we made
And bring on all the pretenders
I'm not afraid
Long live all the mountains we moved
I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you
I was screaming long live the look on your face
And bring on all the pretenders
One day we will be remembered

Hold on to spinning around
Confetti falls to the ground
May these memories break our fall

Will you take a moment, promise me this
That you'll stand by me forever
But if god forbid fate should step in
And force us into a goodbye
If you have children some day
When they point to the pictures
Please tell them my name
Tell them how the crowds went wild
Tell them how I hope they shine

Long live the walls we crashed through
I had the time of my life with you
Long, long live the walls we crashed through
How the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
I was screaming long live all the magic we made
And bring on all the pretenders
I'm not afraid
Singing, long live all the mountains we moved
I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you
I was screaming long live the look on your face
And bring on all the pretenders
One day we will be remembered

I'm a SENIOR and I do what I want

So tonight, as I blog, I'm starting to contemplate my entire existence and here's a couple of my recent "revelations":


1) I, Allison Leigh Ingram, born and bred a die hard Alabama fan, the same girl who could sing the Alabama fight song at age 7, and the same girl who's family's Christmas cards have been Alabama themed at least 6 times, just sent an application for Auburn University. WHAT? For some reason, I was just sitting with Laine at Panera and I decided I wanted to apply to Auburn. I do not know why, I do not know where this desire came from, but I just know I scurried home and filled out an application and sent it in. Don't start up the orange and blue monograming machines just yet though, I probably most likely am not going there, but heck I applied!


2) I am a SENIOR. All I want to do in life is hang out with my friends, go on walks, bake, blog, pin, and quote-hunt. WHY does it seem like I am doing anything but what I want to do? I am into college, I have a good enough GPA, I am done with the ACT, I'm not failing school just yet, so why the hey am I not setting time apart for "me time"? So, as of now, I am finding time daily for one of these things. I also want to take up the following: antique shopping, arts and crafting, and watching Criminal Minds and Dance Moms.


3) I freaking love my friends. And it's starting to hit me that they are all not going to the same college of me (gulp) and therefore, I'm going to fight less and love them more because I cannot imagine what I am going to do without them next year. 


Ok, I'm done. Onto next hobby of choice: pinterest!
Deuces.
Allie


"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." -Lucille Ball

The Promise of a Pancake Breakfast

There are few things in life that can get me out of bed. Looking over to my clock and seeing the number 7:43AM is one of them. Awakening and immediately realizing it is a long awaited day, like Christmas day or a birthday or the day you leave for a trip, is also one of them. The sound of my dad's feet as he walks in to check to make sure my brother and I are up and moving is definitely one of them. But the absolute hands-down best, is waking up a text or a parent or a warming smell saying, "Get up! Mom made pancakes!!! Everything's going to be ok!"


My family lives off pancakes. I would say once a week at the minimum we have them. They're easy, they're quick, they're relatively healthy (props to momma for making this one possible), and they're cheerful. We even eat them for dinner more often then my mother would like to admit. We even have pancake stencils in fun holiday shapes that came in handy when we had pancakes for dinner on Christmas night. Currently I would say I have 5 main food groups: coffee, cliff bars, greek yogurt, chocolate anything, and pancakes. When I go out to eat, I get pancakes. Over Easy: oatmeal pancakes. Cracker Barrel: Wild Blueberry pancakes. Another Broken Egg: banana's foster pancakes. I literally am a pancake addict. 


My brother, Wayne, or fondly known as Goober, is the single best pancake maker in the world and I dare you to try to tell me otherwise. Yes, he is a 15 year old boy, and yes, you could say he should be "too cool for this", and yes people often call him "Pancake". Does he care? Nope. See? Pancakes bring out the best in people...for my mom it makes her feel like the "provider" and the domesticated do-it-all mom who can pull off a big breakfast before a day at work. For Goob, it gives him self-confidence (I think...?). For Dad, it makes his job of waking us up in the morning a lot easier. Which are you more likely to get out of bed too? "Allison! Time to get up and go eat your healthy cereal or microwave oatmeal that makes you smell like maple syrup all day!" (Actually I'm a recovering oatmeal addict so I really don't hate on the Quaker that much) or "Allison! Time to get up and go eat your warm, filling, and utterly delicious pancakes!" I think we all know the answer to this one.


I look forward to Saturday mornings for this reason alone. You take your time, make a cup of coffee, turn on the TV, and ease into your free day with some quality pancake make-age. When you wake up to pancakes, you know it's going to be a good day. How can't it be? They force you to slow down...you can't just microwave, unwrap, or open them. You have to prepare and enjoy them, and not to just get the job done. 


As I was writing this, I started to get excited and planned to make pancakes for a Tuesday morning pick me up. Then Wayne walks in and says we have to leave at 7:10 tomorrow to get to his Key Club meeting. Yes, I didn't make that club 3 years in a row, and yes I still have to take Wayne to the dumb meetings because he made it on the first try. (I've been trying to refrain from saying my life is a joke because it's really not but...you have to admit this is ridiculously ironic. Even for my standards!) So tomorrow looks like an oatmeal/cliff bar/cinnamon toast/non-pancake morning. Dang it. 


To the pancake and back,
Allie


"Why are we inspired by another person's courage? Maybe because it gives us the sweet and genuine surprise of discovering some trace, at least, of the same courage in ourselves." - Laurence Shames

TGIO (Thank God It's October)

I dare you to try to convince me there is something better than the month of October. Dare you.

I've broken out all of my lovely fall clothes that have been in summer hibernation for the hot months, and might I say, I have been ROCKING them ever since. Boots, jeggings, sweaters, the whole enchilada. Also, it's getting cold outside so I can wear my leggings and big sweatshirts without shame (oh yeah, I don't wear pants October-February and it rocks. ) nor am I being judged for drinking coffee in the middle of the afternoon.

And I'm just going to point out the obivous...FOOTBALL SEASON!!! ...You knew it was coming. October is prime football season month; the games get more intense, the days get prettier and brisker, AND it's homecoming. And we all know, there's no place like homecoming. Did I mention that MBHS football is 7-0? Cause we are. I am in heaven.

School is school. English has no fewer than 4 assignments taking place or once; AP lit student can't be spoiled with not enough workload! Still am creepily obsessed with the French language and still am dealing with the daily struggle that is my nonexistant French comprehension. I'm failing math but I have my first ever tutor, and boy, did I need it. I'm studying US government and perfecting my doodling skills everyday 4th period. Oh and best part of my day: virtually 5-7 is free period. Kid you not, fifth is my free, sixth is my teacher's aid that I get a grade for but never actually have to do anything, and seventh is Marine. Get up Seniors 12. Let's just say I took a solid 35 minute nap yesterday and it was the highlight of my day.


And I apologize greatly for my lack of blog-age...I promise I'm going to try to keep it up. I'm a flippin' senior. I should have all the time in the world!!


Happy fall y'all!
Allie


"People tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will descend like fine weather if your fortunate. But happiness is the result of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it.  You have to participant relentlessly." -Eat, Pray, Love


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