Ingrams meet His Majesty; Your Majesty, the Ingrams

Happy Saturday blogsters!

Currently, I'm enjoying my coffee in bed, watching Spongebob, and sporting my XXXL t shirt with talking lobsters on it. I can only imagine what this means for the rest of my day.

Oh btdubbs, guess what is Tuesday?

MAY.

Like, May.

As in the month I graduate.

Y'all I can't handle this.

And two months from today I will be on the plane to South Africa. Wasn't it just this time last year that I was freaking the freak out about going to Hungary? And wasn't it just last year that I even started this little blog of mine? There is no way in HEY that it's been a year. Or at least in my mind, where I still think that I'm in 10th grade. I promise I am in a healthy mental state.

Speaking of one year anniversaries, yesterday was April 27th, one year from the day the state was ripped apart. Earlier in the week, I spent about two hours on the phone with a friend who was in T-town on the day of the tornado and we discussed all the details we remembered from me being stuck in Cahaba Heights for two hours that morning because of down trees, to her sitting in Tutwiler watching the tornado circle the stadium on laptop, not knowing whether it was about to hit her or not. I still remember the eeriness of the skies that day, and the eeriness I felt the next day when the news recovered that two of my friends had lost their sweet cousin when one of them had been at my house the afternoon before as the tornado swept through Birmingham. I remember the way everyone, and I mean everyone, united to help heal the state. I remember my grandfather working with his church in Tuscaloosa, my brother still to this day going out to the outskirts of the Ham to help clean up, and college students who were out of school early driving back to town everyday to start working through the rumble. Today comes with a overwhelming amount of grief, pride, and hope.

On a lighter note, the Royal wedding was one year ago, so a big happy anniversary shoutout to
WILLIAM AND KATE!
I don't know you, but oh do I wish I did.

Ironically, my family was invited to a garden party today hosted at our friends house honoring Miss America contestants who achieve the Duke of Edinburgh service medals. So I casually strolled about the garden with the mayor, the governor, Miss America, and Prince Edward himself. Yes, the Ingram family spent the afternoon with 7th in line to the English throne. Who knows the mayhem that could have gone down, but thankfully, the only embarassment was when I spoke to him, I naturally said, " 'ello!" Wayne looked at me with shock and look that said, "You did not just mock the Duke of Edinburgh." This is definitely a new level of facepalm.

But I applaud you, Prince Edward, for tolerating the Alabama heat. Unless you were born into in the south, we know it's hard to tolerate. And yesterday was particularly hot, but you handled it like a champ, your majesty.

It's a strange life I lead.
Allie

"And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good." -John Steinbeck

I have one month of high school left.

What.

With this little fact in mind, I am still living high school up to the fullest and especially being with my friends every chance I get. And of course I'm still absolutely loving it. What else would you expect from a dramatic high school romantic such as myself?

So what happens in a second semester senior's life? Well I'll tell ya.

Working out has taken a new form. And I'm liking maybe even loving it? I've discovered that I like running in the morning ten times better because no one can see you running 4 mph and looking like a sweaty, athletically challenged walrus. Because I'm not running in fear of being spotted by a drive by, I play more relaxing music* and take it slow. Also, I realized that at 5:30 in the morning there is little to no light outside and not only do I live in fear of being hit by a car but also that a hooded figure is going to dart out of the shadows and I won't have any energy to run away. Solution? The high school track. I wake up at 5:20AM, read my Jesus Calling, throw on clothes and get in the car, arriving at the high school by 5:36AM. The other thing I love about the track (other than there being NO ONE there and I get to see the sun rise) is it's flat and measured. I know exactly how far I'm running and when I branch out and run an extra lap, I feel like an Olympic champ. Okay I know I'm not a runner, nor will I ever be one, but if I can wake up, run, still have time to do my morning routine of eating breakfast and doing nothing, AND being able to come straight home after school to take a nap, I think that running can be a better part of my day.

Also another new exercise feature is Pilates. Yes, I have started going to Pilates classes where I am the youngest one among retired couples, and young moms, all of whom have such better taste in their workout attire than I. I LOVE IT. It's soothing, it's dark (apparently I have a thing with working out when it's dark?), it's regulated, and I still feel like I'm getting a heck of an core work out. 

Oh I've also decided I'm taking up yoga. 6:40 Wednesday basic yoga class, you've been warned.

*Musical stylings have also changed. I'm becoming less mainstream (#hipsterevolution) and more...I guess you could call it '90s/early '00s soft rock. Current favorites: Train (duh), Ben Rector (duh again), James Morrison, The Avett Brothers, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, and other artists of the same. New favorite jams: 

"Shattered (Turn the Car Around" OAR

"I Will Follow You Into the Dark" Death Cab for Cutie

"The Ballad of Love and Hate" The Avett Brothers

"I Wanna Dance With Somebody" Ben Rector

"Your Love" The Outfield

"Wave on Wave" Pat Green

"Precious Love" James Morrison

"You and Your Heart" Jack Johnson

We'll Be the Light" Dirty Guv'nuhs

Midnight Ball was last night and I watch my brother and all his friends get dolled up and "presented to society." The whole time I thought, "Wait, didn't I just do this?"

LOOK AT MY GOOBER

These are my boys

You're gorg

Relay for Life was Friday. My last one at Mountain Brook. Okay.

She's my fav

I really like vanilla lattes. Like I had four this week. Personal fav? The "Bob" latte from Crestline Coffee and Books. Not gonna lie, when this place first opened in lieu of my beloved Crestline Starbucks, I was a tad skeptical. But I'm in love now and you can regularly find me in there pouring over French or English Lit, with a Bob or Breakup Cookie in hand. Just take my word for it.

Well that's all I've got for today. Love ya, mean it.
Allie

<<Voici mon secret. Il est très simple: on ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.>> -Antoine de Saint Exupéry, "Le Petit Prince"

Meet My Favorite Commodore

 HUGE NEWS GUYS

My best friend, Alston, is officially going to 

VANDERBILT!

REJOICING is an understatement. And I can't think of anyone more deserving. I'm so proud of you Aldog! 

"However, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him'" -1 Corinthians 2:9 

Softest Chocolate Chip Cookies Known to Mankind

It's been a long week.
I came home from watching my friends at a track meet at about 10 tonight and was desperately in need of some major unwind-age. So I put on my go to "everything's going to be okay" sweatshirt and started to make my little track star/spend the night guest/loyal economics tutor Alston her favorite chocolate chip cookies. I googled "best chocolate chip cookies ever" and a link to Martha Stewart's soft cookies popped up so I just went with that.
And they rocked.
So naturally I had to share on the blog!


Almost-Cake Chocolate Chip Cookies
(makes 1 dozen cookies)

1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened)
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons sour cream
about 3/4 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1) Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.
2) In a electric mixer, mix the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes) and then add egg and vanilla. Mix.
3) Mix the flour and sour cream in two parts into the mixer.
4) Stir in the chocolate chips
5) Place dough on wax paper and stick in the freezer for 10 minutes.
6) Bake for about 13-15 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees

To the moon and back,
Allie

4

Today, I am thankful that our God is a God of mornings.

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland." -Isaiah 43:19

Today's Obsessions

1. Ben Rector

Other favs I think you should check out: "White Dress" "Dance With Me Baby" "And Then You Love Someone"

2. That Edgar's strawberry cake sitting in my dining room for our Easter lunch.

3. Fundraising. Today I served pancakes for 3 hours for South Africa AND washed cars for 2 hours for Relay for Life. Not only am I certain that I will never work in the food service industry, but also that true friends wait at Applebee's at 8 AM on a Saturday morning for 40 minutes for two pancakes and still love you anyways.

4. My new Seagrove Beach latte mug AND the new hazlenut creamer I convinced my mom to get.

5. Going on walks with friends. Especially now that it is finally warm outside.

6. My brother and I's weekly "dates". It just hit us that we are going to be separated for the first time in our lives in only [four months], so in order to soak up all the time we have left, we've been going to get breakfast, dinner, run grocery store errands, etc. together at least once a week. Go ahead and say it, we're absolutely precious.

7. My new Patagonia baggies shorts

8. Doodles is finally reopened!

9. Reading The Joy Luck Club

10. He has risen.

The veil was torn.

I am His.

Happy Easter!

Allie

Love the Lord your God and Love one another.

Love one another as He loves.

Love with strength and purpose and passion

an no matter what comes agaisnt you, dont weaken.

Stand agaisnt the darkness, and love.

That's the way back into Eden.

That's the way back to life.

-Francine Rivers, Redeeming Love

Two Weeks in a Second

These past two weeks have been so good to me, and yet so utterly and completely exhausting. And I've finally had the chance to stop and catch my breath to tell you alllll about them. Also, I've been on this "in bed asleep and do not dare try to talk to me at 10 o'clock every night" kick so my blogging time has been greatly reduced. But I just finished baking at 10:30pm on a school night [again] so I'm in the mood for some bloggage. Ready for it?

1) SB12
Remember me talking about going to the beach with the single coolest people you will ever meet here? Well I went and I was not disappointed.

View from my balcony. I mean I guess I can work with this.

The Seaside spring break newbie and myself.

Hatz. Beach wardrobe staple.

We also took advantage of the various balconies to spy on our friends like the mature 18 year olds we are.

They're my favs.

Meet Fluffy Israel, proud sponser of SB12 and YOLO

Meet the Joy Luck Club. We're going places.

Did I mention Mrs. Israel makes the best bread known to mankind?

Windblown-beach models. No biggie.

Story of my life.

The porch swing with my spring break ladies.

For seven days my only problems were deciding what to eat for breakfast/lunch, applying sunscreen (insert squirm here), and wondering if I needed to flip to my stomach while laying out. Also, Smives' family just redid their house and it was utterly GORGEOUS. Hands down one of my favorite houses on this planet. Also plus side of having the ballin' house: we left the house one time during the entire trip because everyone came to us. It was almost like our laziness was embraced because there was no way in hey that we would ever want to take the energy and leave. More importantly than the exceptional accomadations, the hosts (Mr. and Mrs. Israel and Smives) were the cat's meow.

2) My last tryout week. Now I'm officially done. No longer is Allison Ingram a Mountain Brook cheerleader.
[cue sound of the earth shattering.]
I spent my first Monday without a cheerleading practice working out, outdoor apparel shopping, and going on a grocery store outing where I argued in the dairy aisle with my brother about his insistance on purchasing 20 containers of yogurt that no one in my family eats. Not going to lie, I missed the controlled chaos of 32 girls in the estrogen-filled chamber that is the cheer room.
On tryout day, I experienced I different side of the tryout world that I knew existed but never actually understood. During the Varsity and JV tryout, my job was to open the door for the girls as they walked out of the gym, otherwise known as "Crisis Management." They could come in and jump up and down with excitement, start crying hysterically, collaspe, sprint down the hallway to get ice for suppressed injuries, or my personal favorite, launch into an blurred and rambling over analyzed account about how they spent the past 7 minutes of their lives. It was three hours of emotional hell that I had to regulate. At least after that followed by moving all three of the gigantic mats back into the cheer dungeon with 5 cheerleaders made the pain of that 2012-2013 squad list slightly more bearable.

Last uniform day selfies.

Best stunt group in the world.

Make it party.

3) Prom. Now, I understand that prom is a big deal at other schools, but at Mountain Brook, you get a cocktail dress, take pictures, go to the dance for 20 minutes, and go to the lake. GSG.
I spent 45 minutes getting ready, got jewelry/shoes earlier in the day, and watched Criminal Minds right up until I got picked up. And it was fun and everything, but I was so exhausted about having spring break, rush weekend, tryouts, and then prom that I'm just glad to have a second to breathe.

...Did we just go to our senior prom?

God bless America.



Prom=Lake.

 So Allison, how has the past week post-Prom and post-cheerleading been for you?
Fantastic.
I bake. I catch up on school work. I work out [if you consider watching Criminal Minds on the treadmill at the Y working out]. I hang out with my friends all afternoon. You could definitely say I'm living the good life.

OH GUYS! I totally forgot something HUGE. We're talking HUGE huge.
Last week, I spoke at first priority.
Yes, you heard right. I spoke in public for a whole fifteen minutes, and I only made up one word! Told you it was huge! I spoke about dwelling, and I'm sure my friends who hear me talk about dwelling all the time were about to run out as fast as they could but thankfully they stayed because heaven knows I needed the support. Basically, I talked about dwelling on things of heaven that will lift you up, rather than devoting your time and energy into things of this world that lead only to dissapointment and ruin. Once you focus that attention to God, He returns the favor and dwells in you. This has been one big lesson that I've been learning this year and so when I was deciding what to speak about I felt like I had to talk about this...especially since I feel like I have overanalyzed the concept to the point of no return.
Want to hear the best part though?
The whole time I was freaking out about speaking, I was concerned mainly with not throwing up and making coherent sense. It didn't occur to me that people would actually listen to me. Well apparently they did. One of my JV girls called me over before she was trying out, you know, when you're waiting in the cafeteria for the 5 minutes that decides your next year and all you want to do is pass out. She said, "Allison, I just started freaking out and making myself more nervous, but then I remembered to dwell on things that will build me up and it worked!"

Thank you God for these past two weeks. You were so good to me.

To the moon and back,
Allie

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." -E.E. Cummings