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.

Autumn 2002- Uni Part 1

Gary Mason is 20.

I've been spending a lot of time on the phone to Georgina and Merida. Up until now I never thought I would want to settle down and have a family but now that Merida is here, I like the idea. She wasn't planned but I think that makes her all the more special. I hate not being there for her properly and I can't wait to finish uni. I'll be moving back with my dad but I hope Georgina and Merida will move in with us.

I don't get to see them half as much as I want to but I love their visits.

They've both made me realize how important it is for me to graduate so I can get a decent job to support them so i've been putting in a lot more extra effort.

Life would be easier if the dorms were kept clean though. Some idiot keeps setting the sprinklers off and nobody bothers to mop up the puddles after. Now I understand why Declan and Joanne bailed the dorms!

I think its still important to have a good time, at the same time as studying and doing well. I hope i'm setting a good example and that Merida will follow in my footsteps when she's older.

Notes: Gary has never rolled up the wants to skill build. That all changed when Georgina and Merida visited so i'll take that as him wanting to get his finger out!

After the last uni update, I thought it looked silly to have 2 different households squashed into 1 update so this time i've split it into 2 parts and Declan and Joanne's update is next. I've caught up with blogging now. I'm still aiming to update as often as possible so hopefully an update a day or atleast every 2-3 days, it is coming up to Christmas after all ;)

Summer 2002- Brockman

Donna Brockman is 44 and Sean Brockman is 17.

Narrated by Sean.

There's new regulations coming in that makes it more difficult to get into university. All students wishing to enroll will have to sit an exam and will earn points based on their performance during school and the results of the exam. I'll already be in uni by the time they come into action but I thought there wasn't anything wrong with getting a head start anyway. Ramona did well during university and mum is expecting me to do just as well, if not better.

Most of my time is spent either at school, with my head in a book or at the telescope outside.

I'm trying to make time for my girlfriend, Louisa but its been difficult recently. This is our final year in school and since we're both planning to go to college in 2003, we're concentrating on school. Usually we just manage to squeeze in a quick phone call before bed. Atleast we can see each other at school, even if its not the ideal place to spend quality time together.

Mum is trying to work her way up the career ladder. She's never really been bothered about work, aslong as it paid the bills, she was happy. I think she hoped that Ramona would come back home after uni instead of getting her own place but now its clear that Ramona is happy where she is and with me preparing to head off to university, she needs something to keep herself occupied. I don't think i'm that bothered about getting any particular job, I just know that uni will open up a lot more options for me.

Notes: My updates are rarely long but this one is shorter than usual. Mainly because i've been reading Sullivan Sims updates and have pinched a few ideas from there, one being about admissions to university. I plan to update all gameplay posts (sim profiles included) tomorrow but long story short, sims need to earn a certain number of points, earnt through skills, hobby enthusiasm, grades ect, to get into uni. Sean was short by 10 points so I had him skilling like mad to try and get to the minimum requirement. He did it, infact he got a couple extra. Since playing though i've decided its too much pressure for my poor sims and leads to a pretty dull round (i'm trying to make blog posts a lot more interesting!) so I won't be forcing it on the sims due to go to uni in Autumn 2003.

Spring 2001- Brockman 2

Ramona Brockman is 25.

It might sound weird but I see myself as a bit of a cat lady. I don't really care about settling down and starting a family at the moment. Maybe one day but at the moment i'm happy with working my way up the career ladder and spending my free time with Saoirse.

Climbing the career ladder would be considerably easier if I didn't come home full of the cold. I guess as a substitute teacher i'm prone to catching stuff from the kids. I thought a hot bath would help but it just seemed to make it worse.

I think the cough sounded worse than it was but I still worried about how I would get through the following day at work. I had already had some time off and couldn't really afford to take anymore time off.

Luckily though I was feeling a little better before I expected!

Notes: I didn't expect Ramona to get sick. Guess it livened up the round a bit! I'm trying to stick to wants and so far she hasn't rolled up the want to go on a date or anything similar so for the time being, she stays single!

Spring 2001- Birthdays

I didn't want to age Merida up without playing briefly. I wanted to see how Georgina coped. Okay, and to test out some baby stuff I downloaded...

Georgina actually coped pretty well. Had to hire a nanny whilst she was at school and Elsa was at work. The nanny was useless to the point of her ignoring Merida's needs just so she could take a shower.

And then it was birthday cake time!

I love Merida already! She has Gary's hair and eye colour but seems to have Georgina's face (sadly no pointed ears though!). I was hoping she'd have red hair but hey, she's still pretty cute!

Winter 2001- Mason 2

Allie Mason is 26.

As much as I love having my own space, it does get lonely sometimes. Ramona is right next door but we usually work different hours. It is nice to be able to invite friends round without having to ask dad's permission though!

I was a little down after I lost my job. I did find another temporary job just so i'd have money to pay the bills but it certainly wasn't what I wanted to spend my life doing.

Lucky for me, I managed to get my old job back!

Ramona and I found 10 minutes to go and check out the new restaurant that's just opened in the city. Service is slow...

The food is great when it finally arrives!

I'm still learning all this magic and witchcraft stuff. I don't want to do anything bad with it. I just think its something that nobody else is doing so it makes it twice as interesting.

I completely forgot that the rent was due so ended up having to quickly sell off some of my stuff.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to do after that other than read...

Notes: Allie forgot about her rent because I forgot until the notification popped up. She'd just bought a load of luxuries, including a guitar so she didn't have the money...

Autumn 2001- Uni

Gary Mason is 19.

I thought since i'm not a freshman anymore, i'd better start studying.

I always get distracted though. I'm loving college life, I just don't think I was made for studying. Last year I had Declan and Joanne to keep me motivated. They've moved to student housing instead of staying at the dorms.

I'm trying to butter my tutor up to hopefully pull a few strings so I can get through uni without failing.

See what I mean about being distracted easily...

Declan Saenz and Joanne Walker are both 19.

Narrated by Joanne.

Now that we're in student housing, we have to go to the library to study and write term papers. The campus provides the basics in the houses, sadly, computers don't come under that category.

I'm missing the greenhouse back home so i'm trying to find other nature activities to replace gardening.

It doesn't always go according to plan though...

We're struggling for money so whilst Declan got a job serving coffee in the campus lounge, I tried my hand at DJing. I don't think a job in the music industry is my calling...

I was really surprised to see Gary in the library recently. He was never bothered with studying last year and it took Declan and I constantly reminding him that he'll be kicked out of uni if he doesn't get his finger out. He just scraped through freshman year. Maybe he's serious about graduating with good grades now.

Notes: Behind on blog posts again, i'm ready to play their junior year now (so autumn 2002!). I have the winter and spring 2001 updates to post and a birthday update for Merida Saenz which i'm hoping to have posted tomorrow and Sunday.

Looking back on this update, I probably should have mentioned Georgina and Merida. It seems strange that Gary is too busy faffing about in college to even think about is daughter. Will definitely have to change that!