All you can eat

Round 23: Summer 2017

last update/Nick's last update/next update/Nick's next update

Caleb Moretti is 35, Nick is 14 and Cara Nanale is 28.
(Maria is 74, Josie is 15)

Narrated by Cara Nanale

I really would have liked to have been more involved in planning our wedding but in the end, I told Caleb that if we wanted to get married sometime in the next three years, he was going to have to take on the bulk of it. I'm so grateful that he was willing to!



I'm so exhausted these days, with work and school, and I just didn't have much energy. Caleb suggested I take a break from school while I was recovering from my miscarriage but I didn't want to.

I actually found it pretty helpful to have something to throw myself into. At this point, I'm about halfway through my course. It feels like it's going to take me forever.

Money is a concern for us, so Caleb booked the community church for our ceremony. It's small but it's pretty and most importantly, it's in our budget. All together, the ceremony will cost us $1000 - $500 for the venue and $500 for our marriage license.

There'd be no sense us having a huge expensive wedding if we had no home to go back to. Married or not, we still have to pay the rent.

Caleb's son Nick is already keen on university and the way he's going, it doesn't look like his tuition will be too much of a burden. He can't actually apply for any scholarships until he's 16 but it's already looking like he'll be eligible for several. I'm not surprised - Nick's always got his head in a book!

The wedding is tomorrow! I'm so relieved that everything is paid for and ready and in just hours, I'll be Cara Moretti!

Standing up there in front of the altar, I was suddenly really nervous. Later on, Caleb said he was feeling pretty anxious too but you wouldn't have known it, from the huge grin on his face.

All of those nerves were gone by the time the ceremony started though and I was just excited again.
The ceremony, and the whole day really, ended up being pretty close to perfect.

It was only close to perfect because our wedding day was so revoltingly hot. We'd planned for everyone to gather in the garden outside but not many people wanted to leave the (air-conditioned!) church for too long - everybody was sort of in and out all afternoon!

I don't think I really thought my dress through. It was sleeveless but also very heavy and uncomfortable. But I only want to get married once, so I was willing to suffer for fashion just this once.

You could say I was thrilled after it was all over! Anyone could tell Maria was almost as thrilled as we were. I'm expecting the nagging about a baby to start any day now. We never told anybody about our miscarriage but I almost wish we had, just to stave off Maria. From talking to the other girls who've married into the family, I've gathered she can be a bit of a trial!

I've got to know her a bit since I've been with Caleb. She's nice enough but she can definitely be pushy. She's very into family and doesn't really understand people who aren't.

Anna especially can't stand her and I think the feeling might be mutual. I don't know how they live under the one roof without going for each other's throats.

Evan is the only one of Maria's kids who's not yet married, so we're all expecting some of the pressure to shift to him now. Poor guy.

Nick asked if he could bring his girlfriend to the wedding and Caleb told him it was fine. Caleb and Nick were the only ones in the family who'd met her before, so you'd think it would be intimidating for her.

Josie seems very...bold, though. I don't think meeting so many new people fazed her at all!

I even overheard her telling Nick what a great kisser he was in front of his mum...

...who she didn't seem particularly fond of.

Caleb was very dubious about Nick dating Josie. She used to be a little bit of a bully when she was a kid and Nick was sometimes on the receiving end.

Josie was one of the first guests to congratulate us on our marriage though, so maybe she's matured a little since then. We can only hope, for Nick's sake!

Even though we cut back a lot with wedding costs, things are tight around here. Pre-wedding, I wanted to wait a bit before trying to start a family but after seeing all of Caleb's family together, I'm getting a bit clucky. Okay...really clucky! It's going to be a challenge to fit a baby in this tiny unit so we've started putting money away for a house. Neither of us make much money, so it's really slow going. I can't wait until I finish school, so I can start earning some real money.

That could be a long time though, so we just went for it. I threw away the birth control and we both have our fingers crossed.

We haven't told Maria we're trying but either she's assuming we are or it's just wishful thinking. She's over almost every night, asking if we're going to give her another grandchild yet.

Just recently, we found out Baby Moretti will be making his/her entrance in Spring! I couldn't believe it. Last time, I was so tired and I couldn't keep any food down at all but this time, I'm feeling great. I hope that's a good sign!

Random pics:

Prepare for wedding spam! As always, these all got framed.

*snort* Maria looks like she's high here but "Look at Player" was not co-operating and I was feeling a little lazy!

This one didn't get framed, this is just to show Cara's dress off. I think it's kind of cool because it doesn't reach the floor, it's actually only ankle-length (yep, doesn't take much to impress me!).

Parents love taking pics of their kids when they're all dressed up (or at least mine did), so I figured Caleb and Abigail might want some snaps of Nick and Josie in their good clothes! This one is framed and up in Nick's room. Also, I always forget to take posed pictures of my couples unless they live together, so I'm trying to remember to do that.

Speaking of Josie, she thought it appropriate to bring her iPod to her boyfriend's dad's wedding. I don't remember ever enjoying a wedding as a teenager and if we'd had iPods back in the day, I would have been tempted!

Also, remember how I was talking about how the new ACR isn't supposed to allow autonomous couch woohoo unless the house is empty?

Well, no one told Cara and Caleb because they do it all the time, when poor Nick is in the next room!

Notes:

• Title is from "All You Can Eat" by Ben Folds. Ignore the woman at the beginning, she doesn't talk for long!
• Nick is already eligible for 7 scholarships, so that will cut his tuition down to $2000 total. Seeing that will be shared between Caleb and Abigail, it won't cost much at all. That's assuming Nick stops at 7. If he earns one more, he'll be eligible for a free ride at Suffolk and won't have to pay a cent. If he does that, he'll be my third Sim to do so - the first was Raffaella Novak and the second was Joanna Gottlieb.
• Caleb has had the baby want since Cara moved in. Cara didn't roll it until after they got married and her "Get Married to Caleb" want was fulfilled. So this baby is very much wanted by both of them.
• Caleb and Cara better hope that Baby Moretti isn't Babies Moretti. They'll have to take out a damn big loan to afford to buy a house! Anyway, we'll meet Baby Moretti in the Spring 2017 birthday post.