Spring Bay!

This blog is no longer updated, infact, it was last updated before my now 8-month-old daughter was born and I don't even have this neighbourhood saved in my game anymore.

I'll be leaving this blog as it is so people can still read and remember the sims if they wish (god, I miss Joanne, she was one of my favourites!).

I have however, just started up a new sims 2 blog, Spring Bay. The first update, plus all gameplay notes will be posted tomorrow!

I have also just purchased a new gaming PC which seems to run sims 3 much better than my old PC. I'm just having a play around, getting used to the game then i'll most likely start up a sims 3 blog, in addition to Spring Bay so keep an eye out for that!

Summer 2003- Birthdays

Just a few 18th birthdays this time-
Georgina Saenz isn't heading off to college with her friends, she chose to stay behind to raise her daughter, Merida.

Louisa Mason is glad to be out on her own away from her dad watching her every move. She's looking forward to spending time with boyfriend, Sean.

Sean Brockman has a lot to live up to after his sister, Ramona's fantastic grades during her college years. He's glad to be at college with girlfriend, Louisa, but hopes he can find the right balance between work and play!

After believing that she wouldn't be able to attend college, Tina Walker is delighted to be here...

....She's even more delighted that new boyfriend, Robert Wood, is able to attend with her!

Notes: I'm not sure what to make of Robert yet. He looked okay as a teen (with the exception of the black lipstick!) but now he's a young adult, i'm not sure. Its the chunky face i'm not sure I like!

Spring 2002- Walker

Max is 44 and Tina is 17.

Narrated by Max.

Things are going really well with the store. Several of the customers nominated us for a business reward which we got!

I told Tina the good news and that I was putting $8,000 in her bank account for her college tuition- and college tuition only. After already assuming that she wouldn't be able to go because we couldn't afford it, she was delighted and started putting a lot more effort into her school work.

She's started seeing some boy, Robert, I think his name is. I'm not sure I like the look of him. Dressed all in black and what's with the black lipstick?! I suppose he atleast had the decency to take her on a date, and pay for their meal.

I can't stop them from doing anything, I just hope they're sensible about things. Tina is a smart girl, i'd hate for her to miss out on college and a good career just because of a careless accident.

After seeing what Georgina has been through, I thought it might put Tina off ever having kids but she told me that she wants to be a mum, and sooner rather than later. She has reassured me that she wants to get through college first and find a job before starting a family, I just hope she sticks to her word!

Despite her best efforts, she didn't do as well in her final year of school as she had hoped. She still passed though and is excited to be heading off to college with best friends Louisa and Sean.

Meanwhile, it's still all go on the farm. There's twice as much work now, with only one pair of hands. I'm looking forward to Joanne graduating and returning home!

Notes: I'm not even sure when Tina met Robert but they seem to really, really like each other so i'll leave them be. Tina is ready to settle down already but will be completing college and getting a job before I let her start a family- I so do not want any babies in college!

Winter 2002- Saenz

Elsa is 44, Georgina is 17 and Merida is 2.

Narrated by Georgina.

Life with a 2-year-old is tough. Merida wants constant attention, even in the middle of the night, which leaves me with no time to myself.

I guess its taking its toll. I was attempting to cook dinner but must have fallen asleep because I woke up to the kitchen in flames...

There are occasions when I can distract my daughter with toys and get a tiny bit of school work done. I don't think i'll be heading off to college. I feel I am missing out but Merida needs me more.

Mum is more than happy to help whenever she isn't at work and even said she would look after Merida while I was at college but she's my baby so I want to be the one to look after her. Four years is a long time to leave her, she would be in school by the time I graduated.

So far i've taught her everything she needs to know. She's out of nappies during the day and she can walk and talk. I must be doing something right!

Mum tried to talk me into changing my mind about going to college but i'm standing by my decision.

Gary will be graduating next year so Merida and I will be moving in with him.

I'll miss seeing mum all the time but at least she won't be far away. Declan is graduating at the same time as Gary and is moving back home so mum won't be on her own in the house. I'm looking forward to Gary, Merida and I being a proper family.

Notes: Not flowing quite as well as I had planned but what do I expect when this household was played before Christmas?! I'm about to start playing Ramona's update so i've got a bit of catching up to do with blogging which i'll hopefully have rolled out over the next week or so.

After spending a while deciding whether to send Georgina to college or not, I unlocked her want to go and it rolled away so I took that as I sign that she wanted to stay with Merida. Gary is back home and i've moved Georgina and Merida in with him.

Aspirations

I'm almost finished playing the Walker's update and as i've been playing, i've been thinking that Tina doesn't strike me as a romance sim. She's always seemed a little too shy for that. I read a while ago about Sullivan Sims (yes yes, another thing i'm thinking about pinching!) criteria for certain aspirations, making it that the aspiration matches the sims personality. So despite the fact I should really be using this time to wrap the last few Christmas presents, i've taken a look at the personalities of all the sims in my game and matched them to the same criteria that Sullivan uses. This is what I came up with.

Jonny Mason: Would change from romance to fortune.
Daisy Byall: Would either change to knowledge or remain family.
Louisa Mason: Would change from popularity to fortune.
Elsa Saenz: Would change from pleasure to fortune or romance.
Georgina Saenz: Would change from romance to family.
Merida Saenz: Upon aging to teen would become either fortune or romance.
Marie Henshaw: Would change from popularity to knowledge or family.
Elise Lawson: Would change from popularity to fortune or romance.
Autumn Henshaw: Upon aging to teen would become either fortune or romance.
Dion Henshaw: Upon aging to teen would become either fortune or romance.
Josh Henshaw: Upon aging to teen would become either fortune or romance.
Xavier Henshaw: Upon aging to teen would become romance.
Lauren Henshaw: Didn't fit into any particular aspiration.
Donna Brockman: Didn't fit into any particular aspiration.
Sean Brockman: Would change from pleasure to either fortune, knowledge or family.
Max Walker: Would change from pleasure to either fortune or romance.
Tina Walker: Didn't fit into any particular aspiration.
Allie Mason: Didn't fit into any particular aspiration.
Ramona Brockman: Would change from knowledge to romance.
Gary Mason: Would change from romance to fortune.
Joanne Walker: Would change from fortune to pleasure.
Declan Saenz: Would remain knowledge or change to family.

I'm really not sure what to do about aspirations at the moment. Some of the new aspirations would really suit some sims (fortune for Max) but not others (romance for Ramona. Really?!). I'm tempted to change some but keep others as they are. We'll see!

Autumn 2002- Mason

Jonny is 44 and Louisa is 17.

Narrated by Louisa.

I'm working hard to get into university. Allie and Gary both told me how great is was. I don't need a degree for the career I want but I don't want to miss out on college life.

It's just me, dad and the dogs at home now so i'm trying to help him out as much as I can. One person can't run the house single handedly, especially with four big dogs around!

I'm finding this last year of school reasonably easy. I'm keeping up with homework and maintaining my A grade. Dad says he's proud of me and hopes I can keep it up throughout uni.

Speaking of dad, he's been best friends with Daisy for a few years. I knew he liked her as more than just a friend but it seemed weird for me to encourage him to make the first move. Maybe he was just worried that Allie, Gary and I would think he was trying to replace mum. Now that we're older, I think he's realized that he can concentrate on making himself happy now instead of worrying about us so he took Daisy on a date.

From what I hear, the date went really well!

Now that i'm 17, I thought I had avoided the teenage acne. Apparantly not!

I'm still forcing time for my dancing. I even earnt a scholarship for it!

With only dad and I, we were struggling to look after four dogs so we had to put Fudge and Luna up for adoption. Dad had always said that we couldn't keep them when they were puppies but I guess we all just got so attached to them that we couldn't give them up. Now though, we had no choice, they were going to end up neglected and it just wasn't fair to keep them. They'll be much happier with a new family whom have a lot more time for them. Sooty and Jess are older now, they're not as boisterous as they used to be.

Hopefully, the pressure will be taken off us. Dad plucked up the courage to ask Daisy to move in with us. At first I was surprised that he asked her. It seemed so soon but I suppose they've known each other for years and I like Daisy.

We'll have another two new occupants to the house next year. After Gary graduates university and moves back home, Georgina and Merida will be moving in with us. Well, I say us. I should hopefully be at uni! I'll miss spending time with my family but I need to move on and live my own life. There's always phone calls and the occasional visit.

Daisy has fitted into our family perfectly. She quite often cooks dinner for us all before she heads out to work.

I don't know if its a name thing or what but she does seem to have a weird obsession with flowers...

I guess she has her hobby and I have mine. If i'm not dancing, i'm playing some sort of instrument. Daisy had some money saved up and she bought us some new instruments for the house!

Her and dad work different hours. He's at work during the day and Daisy works evenings. They still manage to make time for each other, usually late at night when Daisy comes in from work. I'm glad to say i'm sound asleep by then!

I don't get to see Sean very much. We're both busy getting through the final year of school. He comes round every so often when we both have some well earned spare time at weekends!

We had been talking about taking our relationship a step further for a while and agreed that we were both ready. I've seen Georgina struggling to look after Merida and complete school work on time and I know that I don't want to go through the same thing! Maybe in the future, but not right now. It felt too weird to ask dad for advice to I spoke to Allie instead and she made sure I knew what precautions to take.

Notes: Louisa does really well in school. I was hoping her grade would go up to an A+ (I have a harder grades hack installed) but an A is still good! Yes, she is most definitely on birth control! As lovely as Merida is, I don't want another teen mum and Louisa just isn't the type to be as careless.

Daisy rolled up wants to get engaged to and marry Jonny whilst on their date. When I had Jonny ask her to move in though, they rolled away and haven't been seen since. She rolls wants to play all the instruments and get a bronze badge in flower arranging instead. I find that really weird for a family sim. I was hoping she'd roll the want to have a baby, I think it would be interesting to see how hers and Jonny's genetics mixed but no such luck so far. I may send them on another date and see if they roll back then!

Autumn 2002- Uni Part 2

Declan Saenz and Joanne Walker are both 20.

Narrated by Joanne.

The university rewards small grants to students who maintain good grades. It's never much but Declan and I have saved ours for the past couple of years and have been able to buy a computer for our house. We're saving the rest for when we graduate. Neither of us knows where we are going to live yet. I like the idea of going back to the farm. My dad needs help and I loved farm life, I think that is where my life is. Declan has suggested we move in with his mum though. Georgina is probably going to be moving in with Gary's family so Elsa would be all alone. Then again, if Tina goes to university then my dad will be alone too and he needs help with the farm. I guess we still have time to decide.

I've thought maybe Declan and I could even get our own place. It was a brief thought, but one that I do like the idea of. Declan is very easy to live with.

And who wouldn't love someone bringing them breakfast in bed every morning?

College life agrees with Declan. His studies are usually completed long before anyone elses. It does leave him a little bored before his final exams but he seems to find something new to learn whilst he waits.

Such as fixing the bath!

I'm not as lucky. I usually keep up with my studies but I find myself losing track of time if i'm hiking or hunting for bugs. I don't do as well as Declan but I manage to keep a decent grade.

Declan and I try to spend a little bit of time together too. It's not always easy as we're studying different degrees and have different classes but we manage to make time for each other. When we first got together I was worried about how my sister would react. Declan broke up with her to be with me. She was really angry for a while but she seems to have calmed down now. I think she's decided that having a boyfriend isn't all that important at her age.

I admit, part of me agrees with her. Its hard to fit a relationship around studying and just making some time for myself. I don't think i'm as strong as Tina though. If Declan left me, i'm not sure what I would do. Thinking about it makes me feel so guilty about what I did to Tina. Our bond isn't as strong as it once used to be but I hope that one day it'll be back to how it was when we were growing up.

I would like to say i'll have more time with my sister when i'm finished uni but by that time, she could be here studying so we still won't get to see each other much. At the moment, she's busy finishing her final years in school whilst I cram in last minute assignments before rushing off to final exams!

I didn't do as well as i'd hoped this year and phoned my dad to let him know my GPA had slipped a little. He told me not to worry. As long as I tried my best and was happy, he was happy. I guess if I worked on the farm then I wouldn't need qualifications but I quite like the idea of a career in medicine or architecture as well as helping on the farm so I need degrees for both of them.

As for Declan, he still just breezes through his studies. Learning seems to come naturally for him.

I told him my worries about failing. Like my dad, he told me not to worry. I don't need to be top of the class and completing work quickly. I just have to do well enough to pass my degree and that's all that really matters. There are students who do a lot worse than me. Senior year will be the real test but i'm sure if I get my head down and do my best, i'll pass without any problems.

Notes: Declan really does just breeze through uni! He gets an A+ every time and a 4.0 GPA without even really trying. Joanne has to put in a little more effort but she isn't a bad student. Declan seems to roll up a lot of wants to do assignments, write term papers, skill build etc but Joanne rolls them less frequently and I don't want to force her to do anything she doesn't have the want to. I think even if she did roll those wants as often as Declan, she would still have to put in more effort than he does to achieve the A+ and 4.0 GPA.

As pointed out in this update, i'm not sure where to put these two when they graduate. I hate empty nests and insist on having an 'heir' for each family to take over the family house and provide the next generation. Well, Declan is the Saenz heir. Joanne was supposed to be the Walker heir, particularly since Tina is more sporty and less nature oriented so is less interested in the farm and the triplets are technically Henshaw's with a few Walker genes thrown in so i'm not sure. I might have Declan and Joanne move in with each of their families but continue their relationship until one of them rolls the want to move out/get engaged/married to the other and then i'll take it from there.