2013: The year of Stuff. Thaaaaangs........

Well here we are. I have survived 2013. It's amazing how just last year half the world believed that we wouldn't even see December 22, 2012! It has been a year of joy and sorrow, beginnings and endings, etc. And so, I have decided that it is appropriate to look back on all that has happened in 2013 with a photo blog.

JANUARY

Cast of The Outsiders

Contradance with Nicole, Jess, Laura, and Will

FEBRUARY

Excellent meme from the Super Bowl.

I got cast as Dr. Purgon in The Imaginary Invalid!

All in all, not a bad month.

MARCH

I turned 18 this year! Woot! (March 4th)

All the Great Books (Abridged!) was a great success! I spoke Spanish and had balls thrown at me!

Oh, did I mention we went to ASHLAND?!?

Michael and I climbed a rock!

I purchased a fancy top hat and a CHOCOLATE cigar.

Sarah fell in the mud. I laughed. I'm a great friend.

Michael and I majestically rode a dinosaur.

The Ashland crew posed together for a great picture!

Bong ran out of cookies.

Dylan had to recover from tasting something nasty! (Spoilers)

**END OF ASHLAND PICS**

And of course, I asked the lovely Jessica Dager to go to Prom with me, and she said yes!

APRIL-MAY

Prom was amazing. I had probably the best date, and the greatest group ever!

I wore a bow tie, because bow ties are cool! Duh!

After Prom, we were well on our way to achieving new heights!

See what I did there? You get it? Platform shoes. Made me even taller than I already was. Poor Kayleigh. She looks so small in this pic.

With our costumes completed, Bong, myself, and the rest of the cast were ready to rock UMHS!

I played Dr. Purgon, and evil doctor who took advantage of his patients' fears and milked money out of them by giving them medicines that they did not need.

Purgon was not alone in his malevolence! He had the help of his Apothecary, Fleurant (Shane Bong).

Tyler and Kayleigh got cozy on the couch (in character, of course).

Beth and Cyle played the most awkward yet sweetest couple ever.

Jordan and his duck stole the show!

I feel so blessed to have had the chance to put on such an amazing show with such amazing artists. It was a good last High School play.

I miss my drama family, but I know that God has big things in store for me.

Dillon, Cole, and I hosted the UMHS Film Festival this year. It was LEGEN....... Wait for it..........

After class on the last day of school, Sarah and I grabbed a bite to eat at Denny's, excited to be done with high school and to finally get out diplomas.

For those of you who don't believe I graduated High School, here's the proof.

And thus ended an era......

JUNE

June can be described in two pictures.

Seriously, not much happened in my life during June. Summer sucked.

JULY

July was a little better. Not much, but a little.

Pizza.

and Shenanigans.

We did say good bye to my dear friend, Beth Campbell/Howard. I hope to see her once more when she gets back from Sweden.

AUGUST

I had a blast at Jessica Larson's going away party.

Chris came home for a brief time! It was very good to see my step brother again.

I visited my campus for the first time over the summer! It sure got me pumped to go to Simpson.

Needless to say, I left home in high spirits at the end of this month, ready to take on the world!

SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER

This is where I exercise my right to be lazy! If you want to see what transpired over these few months at Simpson, click on the links here to view previous Blarg Blogs. Don't worry, I'll paste them in chronological order:

http://masterblargblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/pictures-worth-thousand-words.html

http://masterblargblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/man-or-muppet.html

http://masterblargblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/all-hallows-day.html

http://masterblargblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/much-ado-about-tons-of-stuff.html

http://masterblargblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-weather-outside.html

I don't have pictures of it yet, but my dad came up for this week from Oklahoma and plans to drive me up to Simpson this Sunday. It has been so good seeing him again. It has been a while.

Overall, it has been a great year! I look forward to another fantastic year.

~Brandon "Blarg" Smart

.....DARY!!!!

The Weather Outside....

...is frightful. See for yourself!

The snow began falling Friday night, and look how crazy it got! It was incredible seeing all of the pure joy on campus that resulted from the snow. Snow in Redding is extremely rare. Because I come from Placerville, I wasn't impressed until it began snowing at this level, but as soon as snow began falling, it seemed that everyone on campus was outside enjoying the frozen H2O.

We all had major snowball fights, built snowmen, and had a really good time. The snow helped that day to be one of the most memorable that I had at Simpson. After playing in the snow, a group of us went into one of the dorms and ate fresh brownies while watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time! Afterwards, the guys (Aaron, Steven, and I) proceeded to Aaron's room, where we watched Mewtwo Strikes Back and Man of Steel.

It was fantastic being able to be distracted by the horror that is fast approaching:

FINALS WEEK!!!

But seriously, Finals Week is going to be one of the most important weeks of my life. This week determines my course of action for the next four years. For example, my absences in New Testament Class (all of which were due to my being sick) meant that I missed four quizzes this semester. He is letting me retake them this coming week, but I have to get A's and B's on all four quizzes and my final in order to pass the class. THE PRESSURE!!!!!

I would write more, but it is time to sleep so that I can study tomorrow. Wish me luck!

~Blarg

PS: Aaron and I ate tons of cake last night at Rachael's birthday party! Here's a pic: