Wednesday 6 February 2013

Change

Round 34: January 2040 (Summer)

Charlie Benton is 28, Camilla is 27 and Grace and Everett are 10.
(David is 58, Kirstin is 56, Wade is 50, Lila is 27, Sebastian is 24 and Adelaide is 22)



Narrated by Camilla Benton


Last year, Charlie and I moved into our very first house. We were happy in our apartment but there’s something special about living somewhere that’s all your own.

We have so much more space and I love knowing we can redesign without asking permission. We’re actually planning on that eventually. The place isn’t quite how we want it yet.

I have a sewing room now, instead of a little corner of the bedroom like at our old flat. It’s awesome to have an area to myself. 

I don’t have to be in to work until 11am these days, so I can be home with Charlie and the kids when they leave for work or school. It makes for a more relaxed start to the morning. 

Shorter hours at work mean I do have to bring work home sometimes. I generally save it until after the kids go to bed, to maximise family time.

Charlie learnt to sleep over the whirring of my machine but I know he’s enjoying sleeping without it, now that I have my own room!

Everett is such an outdoorsy kid and it always made me a little sad that he didn’t have much opportunity to play outside before now.

Since we moved here, he’s started his bug collection up again. I’m not particularly thrilled about him bringing insects into the house but he has so much fun with it. I can’t be too annoyed.

Grace and Everett are really enjoying having so much space outside. We thought they might be getting a little old for a swing set but you’re never too old for a swing set apparently.

Or at least, that’s what Charlie says!

The kids aren't back at school yet, so we've had to hire a nanny for them while Charlie and I are at work.

She’s new to them but they seem to really like her. Her name is Vivian. We were lucky to have found her. 

Vivian is the one who taught Grace and Everett their favourite new game, Don’t Wake The Llama. She brought them over a set her kids used to play and we now have it permanently set up in the living room.

Charlie found out about a new museum that just opened up in Exeter. He thought the kids might like it, so we all went on a family outing there a little while ago.

It’s exactly the kind of thing Everett is all over, so he was in his element. 

Grace is so close with her brother that she’s got really into natural science as well. 

My uncle Wade normally works on campus at the university but he does a little work at the museum as well. He happened to be on site when we visited and he let Grace and Everett in to check out some of the rooms that are normally closed to the public. 

Everett had tons of questions for Wade! I hope we didn't keep him away from his work for too long. 

Everett wants to be a scientist when he grows up. He was telling Charlie all about the different trees and plants in the terrarium.

I have no idea where he learns all this stuff but he’s very passionate about it.

Charlie and I don’t go out without the kids often enough but we do occasionally treat ourselves.

Whenever we go, we have an awesome time and say we should make the time more often.

Inevitably, things crop up and it doesn't happen nearly as often as we’d like. 

This last time we went out, Adelaide came over with Sebastian to babysit for us and she said she’d be happy to do it again.

Until she graduated, Adelaide didn't have much to do with Grace and Everett. She was pretty young when they were born and then I took them away to college with me. By the time I graduated, it was just about time for Adelaide to go off herself.

Since she’s been back in Sullivan though, she’s been making up for lost time and really getting to know the kids.

She got to see first hand just how obsessed with the Food Channel Grace is; there’s just no talking to her if she’s watching that. I'm glad Adelaide is getting to bond a little with Grace and Everett now.

Her boyfriend Sebastian was really great with the kids too. If they ever want to take the twins off our hands again for another night, we’ll be happy to take them up on it.

We can entertain now, so we often have my parents over for dinner. 

Mum and Dad have never really spent a lot of time at home with us before, so it’s a nice change.

We've become kind of the designated family gathering spot but that’s okay with us. We’re even thinking of holding Christmas this year, for the first time.

Mum and Dad have done it in the past and it’s a task that Mum is more than happy to pass on.

Dad is the one who does most of the work but hosting social events of any kind is not something Mum enjoys at all. She's always just relieved when everyone goes home. 

It’s possible Lila and Connor will have found a house together by Christmas but I doubt they’d want to have everybody over.

I can’t imagine Connor being happy about people in his space and potentially touching his things! Lila says he’d probably have a heart attack at the very thought of it.

Right now, they’d be happy just to find somewhere to live. They’re working with a considerably smaller budget than Charlie and I had, so they’re having a tougher time of it. 

Every time they find something they like, it’s more than they can afford. Most of the houses they've seen in their price range are not ones they’d want to live in. 

I wish I had advice for them but the only reason Charlie and I found the process so easy was because of his trust fund. We didn't have to be nearly so choosy. 

Lila and Connor are looking for places here in Sullivan, as well as in Exeter. Things are a bit cheaper here, so I think they’re likely to end up here.

I’d be so happy if they moved back to the suburbs. I’d love to have my sister so close by again.

Notes:
  • Title is from Change by the Lightning Seeds.
  • It’s so weird to be playing my sims and having them miss out on promotions not due to a lack of skills but a lack of friends. It has been literally years since that happened in my game! In Sullivan 1.0, most of my households probably had at least 15 friends and some of the larger ones had up to 40!
  • Anyway, this is the same house Camilla and Charlie had moved into in the old hood. I'd furnished it (and it was really amazing, if I do say so myself) but then the crashing/pink flashing got to be too much and I started this whole rebuild. :( I still prefer the first version I did of this house but for limited CC, I like this one quite a bit. It's probably my favourite of the houses I've done so far. 
  • Wade is Camilla's uncle by marriage; her father David is Wade's wife Amelia's brother. Easy to forget but Sophie and Camilla are cousins as well as best friends. 
  • It's a bit weird mentioning sims in the updates and knowing they don't actually exist yet in the hood, like I did with Connor! He'll go in soon, seeing it's not terribly long until I'm due to play him and Josh. 
  • The hood is still running well, by the way. I added my first non-build objects, which you saw here - Sandy's Fashion Studio set. Fingers crossed that it all continues to go well!
  • This was the last update for Grace and Everett as children! Camilla's going to have two teenagers before she's even 30. Eek!



21 comments:

  1. Oh, my, they are going to be teens! *faints* Wow, time does pass. Lila and Camilla look like twins now. I don't know why, but they look alike, or at least from the side. LOL I'm glad your game is behaving, hopefully it will keep up and no more pink flashing objects.

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    1. I know! Grace and Everett are growing up. I'm quite excited to see them as teens but it's still quite a way away, really. They'll probably show up in at least one more updates as kids first.

      Lila and Camilla have always looked really alike, since they were kids. I was expecting them to grow out of it but I think they might even look more alike as adults. I should put their CAS files back in the game, so I can do a side-by-side comparison, with the same hair and make-up!

      Thanks for the good wishes about my game - I hope so too!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  2. HA. That was my guess for the Uncle Wade thing and I was going to ask in the comments, but you confirmed that I am indeed way too obsessed with your Sims.

    I love the picture of Adelaide trying to talk to Grace while she's transfixed by the cooking channel. Sometimes the pictures just caption themselves, don't they?

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    1. I always wonder how many people really remember the details of the intricate family trees I have going on in this hood now, so I think it's very cool that you figured that out. :)

      And yep, they do say a picture tells a thousand words, don't they? It'll be interesting to see if Grace and Everett are into their hobbies enough as teens and adults to want to turn them into careers. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  3. Love the house! You've really made it look great without needing much CC :-)
    I'd have liked to see a shot of the entire house from outside.
    The museum looks great, too! I really should send my Sims to community lots more often.

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    1. Glad you like the house! The dining room and kitchen (which I'm not sure you can see in any pics) are basically as Maratanah had them but I changed just about everything in the rest of the rooms. And took out the sauna, because it seemed a little too luxurious for a young couple!

      The museum isn't mine but I agree that it's awesome. It's from Sims Community Project, which is where I've got all the community lots you've seen so far in the new hood. All the lots are vanilla, so they're perfect for this stage of the hood for me, while I still have so little CC. Perfect for those who play without CC too, or those who just don't want to add more to their Downloads folder. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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    2. Oh, and you can see the entire exterior here. All I did was move the swing and add an extra one and buy them a less expensive car. Everything else was left as is.

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  4. Wow, they're almost teens, time flies so fast! So excited that you are having successful play sessions :)

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    1. Crazy, right? I'm keen to see them as teens. I'm itching out for birthdays, seeing I had hardly any this January!

      I'm thrilled to have my game back again. I'm hoping it continues this way.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  5. I really like the house, too, it looks great. I love moving families to new places if it means they can do things like gardening or collecting bugs properly. :) It's a bit like when I moved the Siews from their city house to River's Bend and the kids started rolling wants of all things outdoorsy.

    Glad to see Sullivan isn't giving you any more trouble at the moment!

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    1. Yeah, I like to do that too. I like to spoil my sims when I can. ;) I think Everett will start a little garden too, now that you've reminded me. I actually forgot children could garden! I played TS3 while I was trying to get this hood started and they can't garden at all in that, which is lame!

      Fingers crossed it never gives me trouble again! I'd probably have a nervous breakdown!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  6. Oh wow, Grace and Everett are almost teens, I didn't see that one coming! I'm looking forward to seeing them as teens though, and see what they will be up to, especially Grace, it's going to be fun :)

    It's nice that they feel to good in their new house. I have to agree with you that the house you decorated before looked a little bit better, but I like this one as well!

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    1. I know! I was kind of surprised myself. I just forgot how old they were. I should have remembered though, because when they were much younger, I recall thinking, "wow, Camilla will have teens while she's still in her 20s!". So that'll be next round.

      Oh, I miss my CC! But I think even if it happens that my CC didn't cause the pink flashing, I'm glad I started over anyway. It's letting me organise my CC within an inch of its life, which is just the opposite to what it was before, lol! Glad you like this house though.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  7. Ah, I am so jealous of all their space. We're still stuck in our apartment--house hunting is a pain. Plus, it's so easy in The Sims, anytime you get the urge, you just load up the game and it's gone. ;)

    Everett enjoying the museum had me cracking up! I loved going to museums when I was a kid, my parents often thought something was wrong with me. They're fun (and informative!)

    Adelaide and Sebastian would make good parents.

    Whenever you mention a sim that's not "on screen", I always wonder if you've made them yet or not, lol! What a strange world for those sims to live in. ;)

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    1. Ha, I know! I am kind of enjoying house hunting for every single one of my families despite how big a job it is to get them all in homes again.

      I used to love museums when I was a kid too (actually, I still do) and I was completely unable to understand kids who didn't. Suddenly realising why I was such an oddball in primary school, lol.

      I think one day Adelaide and Sebastian will be good parents. Adelaide's a bit more serious than people might expect of her, so she'd balance out Sebastian's very playful nature. And they both seem to like kids a lot, which seems like it might be important as a parent, lol.

      LOL! I can tell you that I have made 132 sims for Sullivan 2.0 so far, with 84 to go. So I'm over halfway there. That number includes dead sims, playable NPCs and significant townies, so I don't actually have as high a population as that indicates!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  8. I thought I commented on this but I guess it was only at N99.

    I still can't believe that these 2 are going to be parents of 2 teenagers. They have come such a long way and I'm so happy for them. The new house looks great so far and it's great that the kids now have space to play. And Charlie too, it seems LOL. That's great that Adelaide is finally getting to know her niece and nephew. So much lost time but it's actually better at this age. They've developed their own interests so they can actually hold a conversation.

    That museum from the Community Project looks great in game! I can't believe those are non-cc plants. They look actually look good in that pic of Everett and Charlie! I took a mental note to try it out but I think I'll just throw it right in.

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    1. It's pretty crazy, right? Teenagers! They've definitely come a long way. Charlie's sorted himself out and is a lot more responsible and Camilla has relaxed a little as a result.

      I really loved this house so I was glad I'd pinned it. Most of my sims will be getting new houses, because I have no clue where I got their originals.

      You're probably right about Adelaide with Grace and Everett. I don't think she would have been so inclined to bond with babies and toddlers as a teenager anyway, so she's missed a lot of time but they're becoming good buddies now.

      I definitely recommend that museum! I think it's three storeys - there are exhibits on two and the top floor is all research offices and whatever those rooms in museums are where they clean and restore all the artifacts! It would make a good workplace too - the Natural Science career would work for it and I know there's an archaeology career over at Riverdale (?) that would too, if you changed the exhibits a little. It's quite a unique lot.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  9. I can't believe that the twins are going to be teens next time! Time flies! They might find Adelaide even more interesting when they are teens! Their house looks great, and fits them even for having such a small amount of CC. I think the sewing room was a must, and with the family photos, this seemed like their home.

    Wade and the museum was really cute, the terrarium was great! I love museums, and it worked out that my husband/kids do too, so we hit them up all the time.

    Super happy that your game is working so well for you! I can't believe how many sims you have! Wow! I brought over about 200 sims, some were off screen ones, like pnpc style ones, and I couldn't imagine having to add all their details back to them with personality points. You are a rockstar getting through all of that!

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    1. I can see Sebastian being pretty fascinating for teenagers too. Hopefully he'll have moved past street musician by then and be playing some real gigs! And yeah, the sewing room was absolutely necessary for Camilla. She wouldn't have an old school sewing machine like they gave us in FT.

      I'm a big museum fan as well, so I'm happy my sims can finally visit one. I've always wanted to have one since I saw Jen's at LaQuest Beach (I think it was hers?) and now I don't have to bother building one myself! I think I will spruce up a couple of the exhibits when I get some more CC in though.

      I have 64 more sims to add to the hood but only 23 are ones I will have to edit in SimPE. I don't bother editing the dead ones and they are more of who I have left. Tallying all that up to answer this comment made it seem a lot less overwhelming to me, lol. Really, I'm almost done. I really would not have got this far without all of you guys encouraging me and urging me on.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  10. The house looks great. I actually forgot that you don't have much CC because you've used many items that I never use! I agree that a professional designer would have a modern sewing machine instead of the one from FT.

    Thank you so much for the link to that tumblr with all of those great lots. I'm really going to dig into it later.

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    1. Ha, I used many items I never use! The one thing I have liked about having minimal CC is discovering some EA stuff I never noticed before. It's still not enough variety for me but they did include some nice stuff with their EPs sometimes, especially towards the end.

      You're welcome for the link! They're still adding lots to it, so there should be a ton more now than there was when I wrote this. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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