Tifani Triumph: Education Years Part 3

Jana and Belle are now children and ready to really start coming into their own.  And they will have to as an heir must still be born.  While stilling getting the Education career unlocked.  A lot to do, hopefully enough time to do it.

With the progress of last week this week was much slower.  Like so slow that I almost feel like I am wasting everyone's time writing about it.  With Jana and Belle as children now there's not a ton of parental oversight or maintenance needed.  They kinda just float around doing their own thing with a bit of direction from me in order to get a few skills under their belt.

Jeremiah has maxed his career, I've toyed with the idea of letting him change careers to the one his actual lifetime want desires.  However, it hasn't come up in the paper yet and I'm not keen on sending him downtown to apply for a new job.  So he hasn't done that yet.  He wants to be The Law.  A good swing career from a life in politics though. 

Felicia is slowly, VERY slowly working her way up the Education career.  She's doing OK with skills, much like Jill it's the friends that are lacking.  She came into the household knowing so very few people.  And with their high social bar filled almost always it makes it hard to develop friendships.  She's stagnated at Guest Lecturer at the University for now due to a desperate need for friends.  Perhaps the girls should be working the street like their namesake before them.  And their Grandma Jill.  And...you get the picture.

However, there's still the need for an heir to contend with...begrudgingly at least by me.  Abigail has seriously babied me out.

 We should return next just in time for A baby to be born.  There's not a lot of substance this week and for that I apologize.  However, I am loathe to give them 'extra' time in my rotation as generationally thinks are starting to get skewed.  (Jeremiah is the same generation as Samuel's new twins if that gives you any indicator of skewed.)

Taylor Alexa Montgomery: Generation 4 Chapter 1

Words can't even describe how I'm feeling about this generation so far so I'll let the picture do the talking for me...

Fun Fact: The walls are down in this image. Want to know how many times that happens? Not often. The Maker is pretty darn near perfect and would never make a mistake like...okay, wait, what was I saying? Lighting just struck near me and I can't recall.

I don't understand what is up with Alexa. She and Lamar both agreed not to try for a baby until they were settled into their careers and had at least 75,000 put back for future generations. This agreement was not only to help provide for future generations but also because it's her aspiration to amass a fortune. It is easier to work towards that goal by reaching the top of her career before children enter the picture. I don't know if it is this arrangement that is leaving her so unsatisfied with their love life but she has some serious issues right now and it's driving me insane.

 Ambition on both of their part is clearly driving a wedge between these two. Alexa has already maxed out the bodybuilder aspiration so we're talking serious overachiever here. I truly believe the problem is that they didn't spend nearly enough time together as a couple before saying their vows. 

Truth is, they're practically strangers to one another.  Lamar is happy but Alexa clearly is not.  I don't know if she's upset because of losing her parents or if she's just not feeling Lamar but I do worry about her.  I'm worried about what this means for their relationship because I really like Lamar but she's suddenly showing the desire to flirt with someone down at the gym.  Oh, Alexa...

Now, what's worrying is that Alexa is not the type to want to have multiple romances. No, something is clearly going on with her and as her Maker, I'm worried about her emotional well being.  I'm also concerned about Lamar because he's genuinely a very nice guy!

Alexa is a gym rat, a body builder and she is in the athletic career. Because of this she spends a lot of time at the gym which I would typically encourage but I am very alarmed because during her latest visit to the gym, I so happened to see her cozy up to Marcus Flex.  Now, Marcus is a playable sim and that means that this is just not a viable option for Alexa even if she wanted to pursue a relationship with him. She's really wasting her time as well as Marcus' and it's just not fair at all to Lamar.

I tried to talk her out of it but she threw caution to the wind and asked Marcus to work out with her.  Interestingly, during their workout together, Alexa became violently ill. She hopped off of the treadmill and ran to the bathroom and just emptied her stomach right there in the gym's bathroom. This poor girl was sick—very sick.  I was a little taken aback. Could she be pregnant? Surely not!

Out of 39 families and many woohoo happy sims, I've only had my sim's birth control fail them three times...if she's pregnant this makes two of those three failures in the same family. Apparently these girls aren't too great about taking their pill at the same time every day. Because...yes, she is definitely pregnant.

 
This throws a definite kink in things because not only have she and Lamar not worked out their differences but this also means that Alexa's birth control failed. Now, she didn't actually cheat on Lamar but she was strongly considering it and I just don't feel that it's wise to bring a baby into the family while she's feeling so unhappy and indecisive.  What is done is done though and there is no going back. So, Alexa has to go home and tell Lamar that she's expecting and hopefully he doesn't think that the baby isn't his because it really is!  Although, I have a feeling that Lamar is pretty oblivious to Alexa's life crisis. He's a good guy but he's just not seeing that Alexa is very obviously depressed and unhappy.

This girl is going to push every button that I have. Goodness! I usually am not this invested in the emotional welfare of my sims. Typically, what the Maker wants, the Maker gets and I really did not ask for little miss Alexa to come along and ruin my plans of world domination and mind control.  Something has got to be done. 

Lamar better get his act together and build not only a romance with Alexa but a beautiful friendship. They have the hot and heavy making out thing down just fine. What they don't have is a solid friendship like Jordan had with Ricky.  How can this girl be such a mess when she had two parents who were so completely devoted to one another?

All I know is that even after a promotion and having a song dedicated to her by her husband...Alexa still came home from work with the most sour of expressions on her face. The only time her eyes even lit up for a moment was when she spoke to the maid. I think I may have to fire him and hire someone else because Alexa cannot be trusted to make good choices right now.

 

In fact, even Ricky (her deceased father) is trying to talk some sense into her these days! He has tried to explain to her how important a strong friendship is to a marriage and has encouraged her to put forth more of an effort...talk things out.

Alexa apparently has no clue what, "talk things out" means. Poor Lamar just goes right along with things. He just doesn't get how dire it is that they stop making out instead of talking about their marriage.  Heck, I think maybe he doesn't realize there is a problem at all!

In any event, Alexa went off to work and came home in a bad mood...again. She didn't have time to mope for long though because she went into labor shortly after taking a good cry in the closet.

Lewis Reid Montgomery made his appearance after a lengthy labor that was very physically draining for Alexa. Unfortunately, a baby boy means that Alexa has even all the more reason to work on her marriage because she's going to have to try again to get an heir!

Overall, Alexa and Lamar are doing very well financially but we have a whole lot of emotional issues to work out before I'm willing to call this generation a success. 

In the next installment we'll see little Lewis grow up and hopefully a resolution to Alexa's unending sadness.  Here's to hoping that she can pull things together and give us a generation 5 heir!

Tifani Triumph: Other Houses 5

Last week for just Other houses? Teens are growing up and ready to move out soon.  Will we soon to big for just one post?  Too many kids (Thanks Abigail) way too many twins and that leads to lots and lots of houses!

Martha's House
Last we left the girls were growing up and Martha and Talin were growing old, together.  However Hope threw me to retchville when she had the option to flirt with her 3rd cousin Issac from Abigail's houseful.  Let's jump back in and see where the week takes us.  Are Faith and Hope ready to strike out on their own yet?  And if they do will mom and dad live long enough for Love to be able to carry the house forward on her own?

Honestly, this week is more about waiting for time to pass and growing up.  The same day the twins, Faith and Hope, became adults and Love became a teen.  The twins are ready to move out next week but will Mom and Dad live long enough for Love to come into her own and take over the house?  That's the conundrum I find myself in.  I'll be making that big decision before we come back.  Basically dare I move both girls out at once or leave one behind or leave both behind...oh the choices.

 Peter's House
 Last week nothing happened.  Nothing.  Well, Lily is difficult to keep happy but that's about it.  Nada.  This week will hopefully be a bit of the same but I know there's a birthday or two in the mix.

Couple of days into the week and Lily is still the must unhappy being I've dealt with in ages.  She just can't be happy.  But, her teenage birthday is imminent and here's to hoping that happiness comes with it!

Guess what?  She's just as unhappy as a teenager as she was a child.  If it wasn't for the fact that Ivy doesn't want more children I'd let her pool into a melting puddle of failed happiness.  But there's no other children, and will be no other children.  So I have to deal with this most unhappy, pain in the booty teenager.  However, her lifetime want is to follow in her mother's footsteps and go into the intelligence career.

Couple of days later Peter's birthday came and he aged to elder.  This generation is slowly making way for the next. 

He just looks so intent, I do believe there might be more to come from Peter before Grimmy.  Only time will tell...



Mary's House
Mary's 'baby' is a pale skinned blonde haired child.  I do believe her gene's are not the dominate ones in her marriage.  Besides her aging family will Mary finally make some decisions about Jace?

Mary:  Hey, Fizzy, got a moment?
Me:  Yes dear.
Mary:  I need to figure out what to do.  Shea is pushing me to make some real decisions and talk to Jace.  I don't know what I want to say to him.
Me:  I can't answer that question for you.  You are the only one who can decide that.
Mary:  I know but, don't you... What would you do?
Me:  I can't answer that.  Let's face it Mary, even if I told you what I think I would do I don't know that if push came to shove that's what I would actually do.  I can tell you what I would do to try to come to a conclusion.
Mary:  What?
Me:  Make a list.  You have to decide what you are weighing.  Are you weighing him as 'dad', 'friend', 'family'.  And before you say anything family is different than dad.  Pros and Cons for yourself and for your family.  What decision can YOU live with for the rest of your life?
Mary:  You won't just tell me?
Me:  I can't.

Mary made lists, I'm pretty sure she called me a few names, she definitely called Janabel a few names, but ultimately she came to a decision.  And made her way to his residence to share it with him.  

Mary:  Jace, I need to talk to you a minute.
Jace: Of course, come in.
Mary:  I've thought long and hard about our previous conversation.  Here's the thing.  I had a dad.  I had a dad who loved me and cherished me and raised me.  I don't need another dad, and I don't want one either.
Jace: I understa...
Mary:  But.  I can never have too much family.  There is no thing such as having too many people to love and be loved by.  Zachariah will never know my dad Randy.  But he needs family too.  And he needs a Grandfather.  I will never deny my son the opportunity of family. Why don't you come to dinner this weekend and meet Zachariah.  So, what do you think Grandpa?
Jace:  Thank you.  Just thank you Mary.  Family.  I like that.  Thank you.

As the week continued on Shea had a birthday and turned elder.  He was older than Mary to begin with and we knew this would come.  And he's kinda got an interesting look to him for an elder, kinda like Peter did.  Not really 'old' looking if you know what I mean...

At the end of the week we celebrated Zachariah's birthday to teen.  While parties are still banned it didn't seem to matter that no one was invited.  They just showed up.  Jace, Hope, Love, Sandy.  Didn't knock, didn't ask, just walked right in.  

Abigail's House 
 Welcome to the home of chaos.  There's a few teens I think will be aging up this week so hopefully this will be the last truly dreadful week.  I don't like to say it that way but it's just so chaotic.  I can't keep straight who needs to do what when.  Even the bathroom sometimes.  Gravy.  Jump aboard.

One think a large family is never short of is birthdays.  And just a couple of days into the week and the twins age to adult and Bethany becomes a teen.

 Isabella grew up successful and happy.  Bethany slipped into the mindset of a teenager like a glove.  Issac however.  Poor Issac, growing up isn't always what it's cracked up to be, sometimes it's just 'cracked up'.

 A few days after Issac spent some time with the shrink baby Andrew grew up to teen.  Abigail and Clarence's time raising kids is almost over.  Not that they seem to be OK with that, seriously they KEEP walking around with baby thought bubbles!

 Just of smidge of interesting things happened between all these birthdays.  Eden was the first of the household to find love.  Oliver Towner became a standard tag-a-long after work each day.  And as their friendship developed so did their feelings...

Before long John found himself developing a friendship with Meadow Thayer, a friend of Bethany's that occasionally came home with her from work.  One afternoon while they were spending some time together there was a ruckus in the backyard.  Best I could tell when I arrived Bethany had attacked Eden.  They were like thugs in the school yard but no obvious memory for either on what started the fight.  They don't hate each other but definitely put a damper of family dinner that night.

It didn't put a damper of John and Meadow's budding something.

The final event of the week was John's birthday to adult.  It took me a tad by surprise and what is it with this family and standing right in front of the aging person in order to create terrible birthday pictures?

Heaven help us that nose!  Next week, there are 3 of the children ready to move out and start their own families, their own futures.  Perhaps then Abigail's house won't be quite so chaotic, just like double the houses to visit...

Samuel's House
Last we left Samuel and Gwen were newlyweds.  Young and in love with nothing but their futures in front of them. 

OK, you know how I always say something like lets jump in?  Don't.  Don't jump, run, stroll, mosey, or even casually drop by.  No.  Run the other direction!  Fast, far, hard, just go.  Shortly after my 'drop in' Gwen popped up pregnant.  I have no cute tummy pictures, no loving mommy and daddy pictures, nothing.  The entire time she was pregnant she was miserable.  Hungry, get food, hunger continues to go down while eating.  Gotta potty?  No problem, potty need goes down while pottying.  Tired, ne exhausted, go to bed.  Energy meter goes down while sleeping.  Poor girl couldn't get ahead if she tried.  Miserable.  And that wasn't even the worst of it.  She went into labor.

And baby Madison was born!

And she went into labor again....you guessed it...

And baby Mason was born while his sister looked on from the floor as Gwen was home alone at the time.

I feared this.  This generation has now reached an even 50% rate of twin births.  And it also means that they have to have another baby.  Needless to say, they will be locating a new home soon.

Samuel and Gwen truly struggled through infanthood.  Gwen just can't seem to get it back together.  She remains miserable and can't seem to pull it together.  I've never had a case of sim-partum misery quite so bad.  She did not go psycho overboard with the bottles either which I appreciated.  Before long the twins birthday came, and it came timely with them aging quickly and almost at the same time.

Until next week when we will finish out some skills (hopefully) and Gwen is happier (please pray) and a bigger house.

Actually actual houses for everyone.  Apartment living was great in the beginning but it's no longer meeting my needs, and those are what count the most right?  And our house count with actually double with all the grown twins striking out on their own.

Moss Generation Challenge: G1 Chapter 2

In the last chapter we started off with trying to secure babies for the Moss family while working on the following goals

Get married
Complete the Bestselling Author aspiration
Become a writer
Marry 2 kids out
Have one enemy and two friends

Somehow I failed to even notice that I wasn't doing this generation challenge in order but that's okay, I guess! I'll try to keep a tally of completion since I started things off on the wrong foot by completing them out of order.

So, here is what my beautiful Moss family is looking like  as of late.  We have Angelica, Ashley, Aspen. Laurel, Alder and proud daddy, Ezra.  Yes, Alder is in desperate need of a new diaper...ah the joys of motherhood, Angelica!

Between Angelica's painting and Ezra's writing novels (maxed) the lovely couple was able to afford a bigger home.  They went from a home worth $20,000 to a home worth 48,000. Not bad for a young couple with three little ones keeping them busy!

Angelica and Ezra have both hit level 5 of their career and are well on their way to hitting level 6.

Their oldest daughter, Ashley, not only fulfilled her childhood aspiration as an Artistic Prodigy but also was an A student before turning into a teen.Yet, despite all of her accomplishments, Ashley seems like she's not so certain about life. Maybe it's just an artist thing...she's walked around all glum for no reason since her birthday.

She might just be upset with me for starting her right out on skilling up for her future as a musician but I can't resist. The girl is a musical genius and we all know how this works—the Maker always gets her way. So, Ashley will just have to suck it up.

Ezra advanced to his elder years...Angelica is still quite young. He married late in life as I'd never really intended for him to be more than help for his sister, Jordan.  Alas, the need for children outweighed my desire to have him be the happy bachelor and just look at him now! Daddy of four! I have to say that age was super kind to Ezra. He's rather a hottie with his silver hair!

 
Angelia and Ezra celebrated his birthday with another promotion (level 6 in their careers!) and upgraded their home with some brand new top of the line appliances. Despite these two large purchases these two still have 20,000 saved back for the next generation to spend! Not bad!

With renovations out of the way, Angelica made a birthday cake for the twins, Aspen and Laurel (both of whom fulfilled their childhood aspiration of Social Butterfly) and watched them blossom into teenagers.

These two couldn't look more different if they tried and yet their childhood aspirations and their adult aspirations and traits are identical. Both Active, Cheerful, Socially Gifted with a High Metabolism and both desire to be body builders. They are the very best of friends and as close as two siblings could possibly be. Their friendship is inspiring and beautiful. They're also both A students like their sister, Ashley.

This leaves me just four more days to try to scramble and complete Alder's childhood aspiration. Don't ask me why I slacked with him but now comes the mad dash to try to complete rambunctious scamp! Doesn't he look so enthusiastic about me waiting until his birthday to fulfill his childhood dreams?


Luckily I was able to pull off the mad dash of skilling and Alder completed his childhood aspiration just hours before his birthday. I hope and pray that he turns out better looking than his oldest sister and his brother.  Wish me luck guys, wish me luck.

His daddy also reached his life time aspiration (and challenge goal) of becoming a bestselling author. In celebration, Ezra and Angelica ran off to the bedroom to woohoo which means that Alder didn't get a birthday cake before he aged up.  Now he's all sad and mopey and really...what did he grow up in? This just won't do at all.  Off to the mirror he must go for a makeover!


Tune in next time to see if Alder has potential as a decent looking heir or if he's burn-it-with-fire ugly. Yes, I know, I'm really superficial when it comes to sims...the Almighty Ruler of Everything has already informed me.

If sim shaming isn't your cuppa, I promise there will be plenty of other updates. In the next chapter there will be love, skill points and maybe even a new home...you'll just have to read and see!

Tifani Triumph: Education Years Part 2

Jeremiah has become the Mayor, Felicia is expecting their first (and hopefully only) child, and Paul has passed away.  It was a busy week for certain.  And there is only more to come.  Let's dive in!

It wasn't moments after dropping back into the house that the magical moment came and Felicia went into labor.

Baby Jana was born and immediately handed over to Jeremiah because...yup they despise me too...

There's ANOTHER baby on the way.  Twins.  Why?  For the love of all that is ooey gooey  and cheesy why twins!

Moments later baby Belle joins the family as well.  Paul, I believe, would have been in heaven.  However, I don't think these two realize what this means.  While Jana and Belle are sweet and cute and annoying and really do not need that millionth bottle Jill, they cannot be heir.  And that means another flippin' baby.  Thanks guys.  Seriously Jill, she doesn't want another bottle yet!

Before the girls grow up to toddler Jill's date with Grimmy sneaks in while she is preparing dinner.  Jill was a friend to Paul while he was growing up.  Paul set his sights on her and once he hit adulthood the proposal was swift, yet meaningful, and they began their lifetime of love.  I had serious concerns about Jill and the obvious lack of basic intelligence when we first spoke and became even more concerned when she chose to pursue the Intelligence career.  However, what she had in confusion in the beginning she more than made up for with compassion, love, and a drive to be her best.  Jill was a good sister in law to Paul's siblings, a good wife to Paul and a good mother to Jeremiah.  She exceeded perceived expectations and excelled in the Intelligence career despite a small setback due to Janabel's passing.  She carried herself with dignity, grace, and love for those around her.  Jill missed Paul after his passing but threw herself into the love for her grand-babies.  She will be missed by everyone.

The night of her passing Paul's ghost came for one of his visit's, probably to see babies since that was his lifelong obsession, and mourned over Jill's passing.  Not sure why as now their ghostly selves are back together as in life but it was cute to see that even ghosts can mourn.

With Jill's passing we have a small conundrum.  Jill had chosen to start her career once the babies came and Jill was being the perfect doting Grandma to them while the 'kids' were off to work.  With Jill passing the day before toddler-hood there was a serious lack of childcare in the house.  Oh wait..thank you again Jeremiah for allowing all Sims to use accumulated vacation time or even call in sick.  So, mom and dad took turns throughout their toddler-hood and I will assume into their childhood as well.  Jill, when she needs skilling time for a promotion will stay home on days Jeremiah works.  Otherwise Jeremiah will stay home as he's garnered vacation time and has already maxed his career.

Before long Jana and Belle's toddler birthday arrived. And as toddler's Mom and Dad worked hard with both girls to max out their skills.  Both girls learned to walk, talk and potty trained.  I have to be honest though.  I missed an adorable photo op of the two playing tug of war with a bottle, OK knowing toddlers more like fighting but still, however the nursery was too tiny for the right angle and they had stopped before I had a chance to pause.  Trust me though, totally cute!

As the girls age closer to child I move closer to knowing that an actual heir must be born, with dread.  However, it seems as I am not the only one with this sentiment as Felicia suddenly has developed a fear of having a baby.  Sorry toots, ya'll brought this on yourselves...and me.  Your lucky I'm being so nice right now!

Before moving on to more birthday pictures I should acknowledge that Felicia has made some strides in her chosen career and has moved up to high school teacher.  With the need for another child she also has no worries about losing her job due to taking the required time off.  There, see how I actually mentioned the only career being worked on right now?  Doesn't make up for having to have another kidlet though...

Until next time....