Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Be Myself

Narrated by Davina

Our freshman year at UCC started out great. Joel and I moved into Moore Hall where Paul has been living and we're all settled into our tiny little rooms.

A week before classes started, Paul asked Joel if we would like to go on a mini vacation to the islands with him for a few days. His family just bought a vacation home there and he was dying to see it. Of course we jumped at the opportunity because who knows when Joel and I would be able to afford a trip like that.

We arrived and the house was so big and beautiful! There was plenty of space for us and they had their own private beach as the backyard.

Paul said to make ourselves at home and Joel and I did just that. It was the first time we've ever had a room to ourselves so we took advantage numerous times!

I don't know why Paul didn't invite his friend Shelah to come with us. I don't know if it's because he hoped to hook up with an island girl while he was here or what. But he should have brought her. He called her in the morning and in the evening each day we were there.

I took full advantage of their private beach and swam pretty much all afternoon while the guys drank and barbecued.

And then later on that night, we hung out around the campfire. I never talked much with Paul in high school but he's ok I guess. He has an odd sense of humor and gives way too many details when he talks about all the girls he's seeing, but Joel likes him. I wish Paul would save those stories for when I'm not around, though. Men can be pigs.

The next day we did the tourist thing. We went sightseeing and did some shopping.

We also went on a helicopter tour, which ended up being a huge mistake. Something went wrong which caused the helicopter to spin out of control and we all ended up puking as soon as we hit land. The guys wanted to go on another tour later that day but that was enough adventure for me!

The day before we left, I let the guys go off and do their own thing. They heard about a pirate ship they could play on and I wasn't the least bit interested in that.

Joel said it was just "ok" but I bet they acted like 10 year olds on that ship.

I know they had a lot of fun out there because Paul came back completely burned. I bet the captain or whoever had to pull them off of that ship.

While they were off playing pirates, I had a nice quiet afternoon to myself. I layed out for a while and just relaxed on the beach. It sucks that it will be years before Joel and I would be able to afford to see this place again.

But we have some great souvenirs and learned the local greeting to remind us of the awesome time we had.

Classes started the day after we returned, so it was back to business... almost. I think that weekend away spoiled it for me and I just couldn't get into school mode.

I don't think Paul is ever in school mode, though.

I catch him napping all the time in between classes.

Even during class. I don’t know how he keeps his grades as high as they are but I wish I knew his secret.

And he spends an awful lot of time playing the guitar for the college band. They're all very good, so all of the practice has been worth it.

And then there's Joel. He makes everything look so easy. He lives to learn and really looks forward to completing his homework and going to class every day.

I knew college would be difficult but not THIS difficult. But with Joel's help, I made it through my first year with a 4.0! Hopefully I can keep this up.

Random pics:
I love how the beach looks at night and this is definitely getting framed and put in their future home.

Probably this one too. I love the waves.

They went to a club while on vacation and Davina didn't know what the heck this guy was doing.

No matter where my sims go on vacation, there is always some kind of altercation. First the slap fight in the Far East and now an island brawl lol.

Here is my sim Leilani that I created for an N99 challenge in July. I was looking for her and she finally showed up on the last day they were there.

And I didn't know the tour guide could get robbed but apparently she can LOL.

Paul is still up to his shenanigans but he's calmed down since the last time I played him. He rarely rolled wants for anyone in particular. I sent him on a date with Lexie to see if his wants would change but they didn't.

And in case you aren't a member of N99 and didn't see my lecture hall, here are a few more shots of the whole scene I set up.

I took a bunch of pics because I didn't know how I was going to write it out at the time and didn't want to go through setting it all up again in case I needed a different shot. It took a while for all these sims to show up and get them all posed. Thank goodness for the freezer clock. I really wanted Paul to have his head on the desk sleeping like when they fall asleep in their food (you should see all of the empty plates of food outside of this shot) but of course he wouldn't do it.

Notes:
-Grades for this year are: Paul has a 3.5 and Joel and Davina have a 4.0.
-I fail at blogging. This play session took me ages to complete and was so hard to write! It was so uneventful that I had to send them on vacation so I'd have something to write about. And like I said above, not even Paul was up to his normal stuff, and I was counting on it LOL! Vicki was one of the dormies that was kicked out when Joel and Davina moved in. So Lexie was the only one in his love "square" that was left in the dorm. But they barely interacted with each other. Sending them on vacation made it interesting, but I actually had to build the vacation area first lol. Then real life took over and finally, here we are.
-All while on vacation, Paul only rolled wants for Shelah, but only to call her to talk. I didn’t send her on vacation with them because I wanted him to be away from the 3 girls to see if he rolled wants for any of them when he returned home. He still only has wants to call Shelah, nothing else for her and nothing for Lexie or Vicki. I guess he had his fun freshman year.
-In case you're wondering how I created 3 tiers for the lecture hall, I used a building that was on a foundation. I removed part of the foundation to make the lowest level (think of sunk-in living rooms/kitchens etc). The second level is on the "main" floor when sims enter the building and the third tier uses the stage.
-And thanks to Fairywitch, I now have a harder grades hack for college students! I just installed it now so I won’t see how it will be until next sim year. But I’m excited to try it out. Davina and Paul better roll some college specific wants or they are screwed! You can get it here.

13 comments:

  1. I love your lecture hall! Paul sleeping in class is priceless.

    The pics of them on the beach are gorgeous! I think the one of them in front of the water fountain needs to be framed as well! The whole vacation looks so fun, and I had a good chuckle at them acting like "10 year olds" on the ship.

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  2. That picture of Davina and Joel is great, they both look awesome and so happy on it!
    I love Paul's band, did you do anything special to set them up? And where did you get that keyboard? (if it came with and EP, I'm sorry for my blindness!)

    That lecturehall is looking great!

    I know what you mean about nothing happening, I have that same feeling about SimsVille, but I love playing and blogging about it too much to give up :)

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  3. LOL at all three of them throwing up after their helicopter ride! I don't think that's ever happened to my Sims, with all the vacations they've been on.

    Also, Kit Royce sighting! That's her in the background of the picture of Paul's sunburn!

    The pictures of Joel and Davina together are adorable. I love the one at the end but also the one of them in front of the ruins. It's all touristy and cute.

    Leilani showed up at my hospital last night! She never seems to show up on my island lots, even though I made her an island local, lol!

    Still loving your lecture hall. I put a mini lecture theatre in my faculty of arts lot (which is not yet finished) but I didn't have space for three rows. Next time!

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  4. Thanks for reading and for the comments, all! Glad everyone likes the lecture hall. It was a chore to set up but I really liked the outcome and plan to do more sets like these... as soon as I think them up lol.

    Galloway Township, yup, there are a bunch of pics from this update that will be framed. Too bad their rooms are so small in the dorms or I'd frame them now.

    And it was fun having the guys act like kids. I really did have to cancel their playing on the ship because they just went around and around for hours. They had a great time.

    Tanja, I really love all the pics of Joel and Davina, too. They're so photogenic! I didn't do anything special for Paul's band. The building they're in is a community lot I set up with that stage and I just waited around until the other YAs started to play along with him (and I had to fight with them to get off the guitar because Paul's the guitar player lol). I'm about to load my game right now so I'll check and let you know where the keyboard came from.

    I've been feeling so impatient with my game and myself. I wish I could fast forward a few generations so my sims can finally have big extended families and I can run a school with more than 3 students and hopefully have some drama. But I've never enjoyed playing TS2 more so I'll be patient :)

    Carla, LOL yea I haven't had any luck with choosing the right action when my sims go on tour or hiking so they usually end up sick or really uncomfortable when they return. I think this one asked if I should push the green button on the red button and whatever button I pushed caused the heli to spin out of control LOL. I should have used the freezer clock to have them all throwing up right next to each other but I was laughing too hard.

    Haha I didn't even realize that that was Kit! I made over most of the locals but I didn't recognize her before I did her makeover. I did them late at night so that's probably why. But I have seen Cara walking around. I didn’t make her over. Too funny that Leilani showed up at your hospital and not on the island. She travelled kind of far to get medical attention, huh? :)

    Can't wait to see your faculty of arts building when you're finished. I think once I finally get through with this round (only 3 more updates), I might start working on redoing some of those buildings again. I already know who I'll be sending to college and I will need buildings for them.

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  5. I have sooo many buildings to do, as I'm sure you do too! University buildings are hard for me to get started on. I won't do a lot tour of my Faculty of Arts though, as I didn't build it and am not really changing it too much from the original. Besides the lecture hall, I mostly just replaced Maxis furniture with custom. You'll see it in updates though, once I start using it. :)

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  6. Tanja, the keyboard is by Sims 2 Sisters @ TSR. Here's the link to the set http://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/530013

    Carla, yes I have tons of buildings to do, pretty much all but culinary and music :). I still need to post up the tour of the full music building but that stage is pretty much the best part of the lot lol.

    And I hope to get caught up on your blog this weekend. I'm behind at least 2 or 3 weeks. Where did you find your faculty of arts building?

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  7. The Faculty of Arts building is here:

    http://sims.blackdaisies.com/?p=2433#content

    I got rid of the art shop and replaced it with a mini-gallery and the aforementioned mini-lecture hall. But most of the other changes have just been swapping out wallpaper and objects.

    I need a music lot too. Can't wait to see yours, so I can steal ideas, lol! The building I just linked you to has a dance practice room but I want a whole separate building for music.

    SO much has happened in Sullivan lately but you'll see when you catch up! I'm writing another big update right now (big in the way of drama - it's probably going to end up being quite short). My Sims are keeping me on my toes!

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  8. Oh yea. I've seen that art building. I believe I have that site bookmarked.

    I'll grab some pics of my music building the next time I load my game. I downloaded a nice dance school that I can't wait to use. It's made by Estatica at TSR http://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/711190 I'll probably change a few of those rooms around but I really like the look of the building. The coloring may change once I decide where I'll put it, though.

    I can't read about all the drama that's going on in your hood now. I have a long weekend coming up so hopefully I can do some reading then.

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  9. Hey, thanks for that link! I'll have to check it out in game and see what it's like. :)

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  10. I really like Davina, she has such a cute face. This entire update was really full of beautiful shots, the ocean at night is one of my favorite backdrops too, and the lecture hall is great.

    I really want to make a lecture hall, I really like the way you did yours.

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  11. You're welcome Carla!

    Thanks Maisie! Glad you like Davina. I made her waaaay back in 2004, can you believe it?! I kept her around all these years lol. I think if I ever get around to changing the terrain of Crystal Creek, I'll have her and Joel or *someone* live on a beach lot. I really like them and there are always great shots.

    And the lecture hall wasn't too hard to make, so you should go for it. Of course, setting up the shots take way more time.

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  12. I'm finally all caught up and looking for the next button and it wasn't there.

    The vacation pictures turned out so nice. I'm envious of your lecture hall and seeing your sims grow up.

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  13. Congrats on catching up! It shouldn't have been too tedious with my lack of updates the past couple of months. I'm hoping to have an update up later this week. I can't believe it's already the middle of September though. I think I'm keeping up but then 2 and a half weeks passes like that.

    Glad you like all the vacation pics. I wish I would have tried BV earlier because I'm loving all the beach shots I'm able to get. I had to stop myself from putting in more beach pictures and actually talk about their semester at school LOL.

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