Ruby: Hi folks, I’m Ruby Shanley. This is what I looked like my first day at Sim State University. Behind me is my cousin Ginger Shanley, who hadn’t turned into a young adult just yet.
Ginger: Wait, wait, WAIT…you can’t start out just like that. It’s been too long. You have to refresh their memories a little.
Christmas Eve day on Annabel Island was the coldest day in recent memory, yet still warm enough that the trees stayed green and leafy and the flowers did not wilt. As the families on the island gathered to celebrate the holiday, they discussed the possibility of frost, or worse yet, snow, which would mean disaster for the farmers, unless they could somehow turn their crops into coal and firewood. But talk of the weather soon gave way to excited speculation over what Charles Dunnavant, the “King of the Island”, was building by Sandero Bay — some said it looked like an Arabian palace; others said they had peeked over the walls and seen the columns of what might be a Greek temple.
It was of this very thing that Morgan and Madeline De Groff were speaking on Christmas Eve afternoon while they waited for their father. At the same time, they played their own made-up game, “Witches and Bandits”, with Madeline as the Good Witch of the Mountain, and Morgan as the evil bandit Thirsty O’Fallon.
“Mr. Dunnavant is building a playhouse for his children, of course,” said Madeline as she and Morgan squared off in the hallway to do battle. “And when it’s finished, I’m going to be invited over every day, while you stay home and do lessons!” She waved her magical pointer finger at the evil bandit, who wished fervently for a weapon.
Hey guys, I’m still alive, I’ve just been taking an unexpected break from blogging. Real life sort of took over for awhile, but I’m eager to get back to my Sims stories. I’m just not sure what I want to work on the most. I have about a quarter of a Brayton/Annabel Island update written, and a few pics for the next year of the Ravelo girls at college, but for some reason those stories aren’t inspiring me much at the moment. I’m not sure why, since I really like the pics I took and am excited to share them with you. I’ll chalk it up to a phase I’m going through, or maybe it’s this cold winter weather and a case of the lazies. Who knows. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll be back at some point in the very near future, but I’m not sure when. Just wanted to let you guys know I’m still around, and still Simming. Hope you’re having fun, wherever you are!
I hope you all had a fantastic New Year’s Eve! As for me, I ate too much chocolate, drank too much pop, and laughed my head off. If there’s any truth to the theory that the way you ring in the New Year is the way you’ll spend the rest of the year, then I have 12 months of hilarity and stomachaches to look forward to. :-D
My brain was yowling today after working on the Brayton update, so I took a break and did something a little more relaxing: I built a house. On Friday I got a new book called American Country Building Design, which is full of real floor plans from farm and country houses of the 19th century (and just as much fun to read as it is to look at). The house I decided to build was originally published in a book called “The Country Gentleman” in 1856 and is basically a farmhouse in a gothic style, hence the name “Country Gothic”.
I built it on my “clean” Windows account using all Maxis items except for some walls, floors, and fencing by Marina (who kindly gave me permission to redistribute her items). The house costs around §163,000 and is fully furnished in the Victorian style (except where I had to use modern items like the telephone, smoke detector, and refrigerator). Instead of uploading it to the Exchange, I put it on my own webspace this time — let me know if you have any problems.
Download “Country Gothic” (just unzip and double-click to install)
(UPDATE: I forgot to mention that you will need the University and Nightlife expansions for this house.)
If you’d like to see some more pictures, click on the link below. Enjoy!
OK, so I’m a bit early, but since I’ll be busy tonight and tomorrow, I thought I might as well post this now. :-)
I hope all of you have a very happy and healthy New Year!
By the way, I’m working on an Annabel Island/Brayton update (the Christmas one, a bit late) and plan on having it posted by Sunday or Monday (three-day weekend, woo!). I have all of the pics taken and just have to write the darned thing. If you’d like to see a sneak preview pic, click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below.
Hi everyone. I’m Kaela Ravelo, also known as “the middle sis”, “the shy one”, and, as my big sis Anastacia so affectionately calls me, “the green-eyed monster”. She only calls me that because my eyes are green, not because I’m jealous or anything. Like I would be jealous of my sisters — shyah!
I’m just kidding. I love my sisters to death, and being in the middle, I’m like the “bridge” between the two. I get along with both of them better than they get along with each other. But we’ve all gotten to be pretty close since we came to Académie La Tour. We just finished our freshman year, in fact, and all three of us made the honor roll. Pretty cool, huh?
Looking back, it seems like it was an easy year, but really…it wasn’t. Aside from the loads of homework, exams, and term papers, we had to deal with annoying dormmates and clueless boys (one particular guy happened to be both). And I had to conquer a little thing known as ‘stage fright’.
Before the Ravelo girls left for college, I had the family pose for a Christmas card. I used the camera reward, so I don’t have any funny outtakes, but I do have some close-ups and an alternate indoor picture, if you want to take a look. But the main thing I want to say is: I hope all of you have a very happy holiday!
Hi everyone! It’s me, Anastacia Ravelo. Yes, I’m back to update you on the latest happenings in the Ravelo family. Eventually you’ll get to hear from my sisters, too, but for now, it’s just me, and I have so much to tell you!
After my grandparents died, we moped around the house forever, but then Dad’s movie came out and was such a smash that it lifted our spirits a bit. Plus I got to meet Johnny Depp at the premiere! Did you know he has an alien baby? Anyway, Dad also got a huge pay bonus, so we were able to totally deck the halls with Christmas decorations. Our once barren house is now cheerful and cozy.
Some weird things have been happening, though. First, Mom tried to fix me up with a friend of hers from work, Joe Carr. Well, not really fix me up, since I’m way too young to get married, but she was hoping we’d become good friends, and then I could marry him after I graduated from college. My response to that was, “Um…ew.”
