Chilly in the Hills

Day 2, Tuesday, 8:53 PM

My first full day in Riverblossom Hills is almost over, and I have this to say: I am freezing my patootie off. Yesterday was nice and warmish, but this morning was chilly and winter-like (minus the snow, thank goodness). What gives? It’s supposed to be spring! Our pond even froze over — much to the delight of the fishes, I’m sure, since they’ve managed to escape Uncle Elvis’s fishing hook for one more day.

Franchesca Diaries

But why am I babbling on and on about the weather? Yawnnn. Instead, I’ll tell you all about…my completely uneventful day.

Wait, don’t run off! I was kidding. My day was actually very exciting. Adventurous. Magically delicious. No, really.

First off, let me tell you about my room: it has been Franchesca-ized. This could be good or bad, depending on how much you like leopard print curtains (my mom’s idea — she loves animal prints) swirls, pastels, and black stripes. You see, my whole plan was to distract the eye from the putrid yellow walls, and I think I did a pretty good job.

Franchesca Diaries

The best part is my hula dancer lamp lady. She reminds me of flowers and sunshine and tropical goodness — this will keep me sane during the brain-numbingly long winters. Why oh why did we have to move to Riverblossom Hills, land of a thousand glaciers? Help me, hula dancer lamp lady — you’re my only hope!

And if you’re asking yourself, “Why DID they move to Riverblossom Hills?” I have four words for you: My. Father. Is. Insane. I kid you not. After the satellite disaster, he decided it was time to make a fresh start. So what did he do? He hung a map on the wall, covered his eyes, and threw darts at it. The first dart just barely missed our cat. The second dart landed on Riverblossom Hills.

So it’s all my dad’s fault I was subjected to the hellacious nightmare known as Gretchen L. Dewberry High School today.

Franchesca Diaries

Actually, it wasn’t that bad. The bus driver was perhaps a bit too cheerful, plus he knew my name, which freaked me out (“Good morning, Miss Mortinez! Have a GREAT first day of school!”), but otherwise, nothing terrible happened. The homework will be a challenge, but I don’t mind that. It’s the other kids that frighten me. They were all staring at Rico and me like we were from another galaxy. Except this one nice boy, Joel. I’ll tell you more about him later.

So what did everyone else do all day? Well, Bernie was at the elementary school dealing with the hooligans there, Mom did some shopping and finished putting our stuff away, Dad went to his new job at the Riverblossom Hills Gazette, and Uncle Elvis…well…he just kind of hung out at the house with Taz. I guess he’s not quite ready to go back out into the real world yet.

Franchesca Diaries

At least he makes himself handy around the house. He’s a total wizard at cooking and cleaning. I can’t believe his girlfriend left him for a mime. I mean, seriously — who would you rather have? The guy who washes dishes? Or the guy who merely PRETENDS to wash dishes? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Franchesca Diaries

Oh, while we’re gabbing about Elvis, here’s a picture of the guest house, where he sleeps. I believe someone requested it…

Franchesca Diaries

Pretty spartan, eh? I bet he can’t wait to get rid of that wallpaper.

(continued on Page 2)

28 thoughts on “Chilly in the Hills

  1. Hi. great chapter I liked the bit where there’s a pic of the cat doing what looks likes a karate move on the bird toy very funny.

    I take it you’re a fan of the cofessions of a heiress blog? I’ve read it myself though I can’t remember if I commented. I love the clothes for the babies I wonder where you can get them from? It will make things easier when you have twins.

    Oh yeah I haven’t got the email again which is odd coz I’m sure it worked before (I mean the time before last update) so what I might do is wait until your next update and if the email for it doesn’t arrive on time then I may have to cancel the subscription what’s the point of having it if it doesn’t work.

    Great update I still don’t have seasons so I hope you don’t mind if I ask are the clothes in the last pic from seasons or ones that you downloaded yourself?.

    Keep Simming!

    See ya

  2. Pandora – You’re right, I’m a huge fan of the Heiress and Confessions of an Heiress. And Llama Mama. :-) I’m not sure what baby clothes you’re talking about, though…The FeedBlitz e-mail probably won’t go out until tonight, since I updated after midnight last night. So you most likely won’t receive the notification until tomorrow morning. Maybe I’ll start doing what Mao does and just send it out manually so you don’t have to wait so long for it! And the clothes in the last pics are from Seasons.

    Lindsey – Thanks! Great start on your new blog!

  3. Hey! I’m a huge Confessions of an Heiress fan too! and Llama Mama ROCKS! :D LOL. I’m glad to see they are also popular in Riverblossom. That was a GREAT surprise. Gnome Nabbers eh? LOL. I’ll have to remember to watch. I like the guest house, and how great that Elvis washes dishes for REAL (unlike a mime) It is always cool to see the game through your eyes Jen. It makes me appreciate so many new things.

  4. I am in LOVE with this story line. It’s just great. It’s also bumming me out because I might have to move from Florida to New Hampshire like they are moving, except all my four brothers are out of the house now so it would be just me and my parents in a cold frosty house in the middle of nowhere. Oh no. But I agree with Amy it’s so nice to see the game through your eyes. Great job again! I was so happy to see the update!

  5. I do think that it’s kind of freaky that the bus driver knew Franchesca’s, err…your name. I would also like to participate in Gnome Nabbers, so I wasn’t surprised when I heard that Bernie was begging for a lawn gnome!

  6. Hi. yep I’ve just got your email telling me you’ve updated. thanks though I hope that FeedBlitz starts working soon so then you don’t have to worry about manually emailing everybody!.

    You asked what baby clothes I meant well you know on the confessions of a heiress blog all the sim babies have clothes on instead of just a nappy (diaper) I hope that’s cleared things up if not just let me know. Don’t worry though I’ll just look on Mod the sims 2 and see if there’s anything there or look at the download sites on your link page.

    Thanks again

    See ya

  7. this is so cool jen.I just love her crush and knowing u there is something in store for the little couple in the future

  8. Cool update! heh, i like the llama mamma part. ill make a longer comment later. I have to help my mom prepare for a ‘mother-daughter’ book club. we’re making veggie dip!

  9. Hey! I’m so glad you updated this family again (yay!) Its so cute how Joel and Franchesca get along, and I like how he’s not an NPC, I really love that guest house, I don’t know why though! That pic of Taz is my favorite sims 2 pic ever, it is so funny! I think Elvis is my favorite (haha, Elvis!)he’s just so cool!

    Great update!

  10. Love the update, Jen!!! (AND it’s awesome you used Llama Mama in here! I love the Legalos family! :)) I love Uncle Elvis’ house, he rocks!

  11. I looove Fran! ^^ Her humour (as in: yours) is awesome!
    Oh, btw, is there any chance at a real close-up from her, because I keep wondering if thats downloaded make-up, or from the original game.

    You did a great job on this, I’m sure I’ll survive without the Burr’s as long as I have Fran. :D

  12. HEHE, me love. I adore Fran’s use of words, like “I give you exhibit A.” Have you been spying on me or something? Finally, a sim story about a gal who is kinda like myself! You’ve hit the jackpot here, Jen!

  13. Awesome update Jen! I have a general question about plant people (for those who have the Seasons.) How do you get a regular sim to turn into a plant person? I’ve heard that they have to spray plants a lot, but how many times? Because I have a sim who has a gold badge and like LIVES with her plants, but she’s still a regular sim. AARGH! Anyway, I love this family!

  14. Lucia, I can answer that. :D You have to have one Sim spray a hundred times, and after that there is a ten percent chance that a spraying will lead to planthood for that Sim.
    Alternatively you can do what I did and download the Plant Sim tonic from modthesims2. XD

    Jen – This is such a lovely little story! It’s nice to see kind of a soap opera style perfect family unit instead of something uber-dysfunctional. And the house is so cute in its own odd way. XD Thank you for the shot of the guest house! Hee. On my side of things I’m idly playing around with a twist on the Legacy Challenge, and I’ve just started the Asylum Challenge. When I’m not doing those I’m playing with Riverblossom and Pleasantview. Busybusybusy! .. I swear I’ll update the blog soon, too.

  15. Thats so weird, coz I just downloaded the Llama Mama’s t-shirts from the site to put into my legacy. Hope they work for me.
    Thanx for linking me to that blog, its a really cool story.

    Great update byw, love the story. Your writing in first person is excellant. Looking forward to more.

  16. Jen, you are in TOP FORM! I lurved this:

    I can’t believe his girlfriend left him for a mime. I mean, seriously — who would you rather have? The guy who washes dishes? Or the guy who merely PRETENDS to wash dishes? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

    Funny. So funny.

    And so cool to incorporate Amy’s so awesome Llama Mama into the story. Very nice.

    *wave*

    I am posting at Thyme again (I am more or less recovered from the accident), so please stop by:

    http://isleofthyme.squarespace.com/

    Hugs!

    Jade

  17. Wow, I really loved this entry. I think I like it so much because of the wonderful character development. Franchesca is so likable, so relatable. I cannot WAIT for more!!

  18. Hey guys, thanks for the comments as always! I’m having a lot of fun with this, and I’m glad you’re enjoying it, too.

    To answer some questions –

    Katie – You didn’t ask a question, but I just wanted to say I understand how you feel about the possibility that your family might move, especially to somewhere so different than what you’re used to. But if New Hampshire is anything like MN, it probably has gorgeous summers, and of course, there are those amazing New England autumns. I hope it turns out to be a positive thing for you and wish you the best of luck, whatever happens.

    Pandora
    – Hmm, I’m not sure where Amy found the baby sleeper that Atlas Legalos is wearing. She might have recolored a mesh herself. You could e-mail her via her website and ask, or check out some of the baby clothes here and here. They replace the default diaper mesh, so you can only have one in your game at a time.

    Ilse – I’m planning on doing a little Profile page for the Mortinez family, so I’ll make sure to post a close-up of Fran in there. All of the make-up I’m using for this family at the moment is from Lyran.

    Lucia – I guess Kay answered your question. Thanks, Kay! :-D

    alison – Hrm, what’s a bebo?

  19. Darn, late as usual. (sigh). Fran is very funny, but her uncle is something else. The cat is funny. I’m guessing it’s Autumn (sp?) in Riverblossom hills. The Roths are obviously a parody of Pleasantview’s famous family, it’s still funny though.

  20. Hi. thanks for the links very cute baby clothes. I did try to look on that site for baby clothes myself but I guess I got sidetracked looking at the other stuff that was on there.

    Can’t wait until your next update

    See ya

  21. Love this story….cant wait to see Francesca’s next entry. How do you take such awesome pictures?? Taz with the bird is excellent. The whole family is great.

  22. Wonderful update, Jen. Especially love those last couple pictures.. they’re gorgeous. Love the mention of Llama Mama, too. They’re everywhere! Haha. Looking forward to your next update!