Chapter 2 - Angelina

Hello, everyone! I'm glad you came back for more. This time Angelina will be writing the journal entries. I wonder how she really feels about her living situation now that she's stuck right in the middle of it. As always, thanks for the feedback. Keep it coming.

FF, I saw your additional comment at the end of Brad's college years about me being nuts for playing with the pets and seasons rules. The food restrictions are only half the battle which obviosuly I didn't have deal with for long so I can't really complain. Can you imagine only being able to call people between 12am and 12pm on Tuesday mornings? I can't because I always forget. The family had hardly any friends at the beginning of this chapter. The other super annoying thing to me is not being able to use the computer to find a job and only being able to pick the first job that shows up in the paper. The right job is very hard to find.

Journal Entry - Second Thoughts

I often wonder what I got myself into when I agreed to marry Brad. He was no longer the young, sexy man I met back in college. He wore hideous looking clothes and practically lived in a shack. I frequently got lost in my thougths and one time even burnt my lunch. I don't know what I would have done if Brad hadn't restored the food industry in this neighborhood before I moved in. I couldn't imagine having to eat gelatin everyday. To make matters worse it seemed like Brad started to loose his mind with each passing day. He did things that just didn't make sense.


One day I saw him standing around stinky bottles holding one of our daughters while the other one lied on the floor surrounded by filth. I couldn't understand why he had used three bottles on two babies in under an hour. I don't think they could have been that hungry. Perhaps, he was just over compensating for not having much food during most of his adult life.


The stupid stray cat Brad decided to take in didn't do very well at his job as pet security. In fact he even got demoted once. It was bad enough having to take care of twin babies but to add a pet to the house made matters even worse, especially since Brad was no help at all and walked around aimlessly most of the time.


The girls grew up so quickly. I can still remember their first birthday like it was yesterday. I never quite understood what every meant by the terrible two's but I was about to find out.

Zahara was first to grow up and boy did she have a lot of hair. Brad stood in the background smiley as his little baby became a toddler.


A little later that evening it was time for Shiloh to grow up. She didn't have nearly as much hair as her twin but at least she had some. Come to think of it, Brad and her almost had the same amount.

I almost hate to say it but I pitied Brad most of the time. He spent his life working hard trying to revive this neighborhood only to lose his mind and hair and miss out on all the fun activites the girls would do in the years to come because he was too old to take part in them. Although, I agreed to marry him and continue in his footsteps to rebuild the neighborhood I could still watch my children grow up and never had to worry about food.


If I didn't love Brad as much as I do I would have never agreed to this kind of life. After I graduated college and Brad didn't ask me to move in with him right away I started dating other guys but none of them made me feel quite the way Brad did.

I was very surprised to hear from Brad after so many years of him not calling but the simple sound of his voice made my heart race. When he finally invited me over I felt nervous like a little school girl. That changed quickly though. Brad's home was a dump and he looked old and tired. It was nice to catch up with him but my feelings towards him had changed and I wanted to go home. However, before I could he proposed. I saw the sad look in his eyes and felt obligated to say yes. I had loved him very much at one point and maybe over time we could rebuild our relationship. To this day I'm not sure why I said yes but it hasn't been all bad. Brad is a good guy just different from how I remembered him.

End Entry


Journal Entry - Toddler Years

As much as I wanted to get a job right away after the girls were born I was too afraid to leave them alone with Brad while I was gone. I couldn't be sure if he'd remember to feed them or not. At times I felt like Brad was a bigger child then the girls were. One time when Zahara complained she needed to use the potty instead of helping her Brad just started complaining about being dirty. The responsbilities of the girls weighed on me heavily. I had hardly any time to sleep, eat, build skills, etc.


To make matters worse the damn cat starting eating food off the counter. I told Brad he better watch that cat of his or it'd be gone one day. That was the last time I saw Kobe on the counter.


Despite Brad's flaws it was moments like this that I remembered why I loved him so much. He had children on the mind all the way back in college and had brought back this smartmilk with him so his future kids could have it. That is the fun, loving guy I fell in love with not this sad, tired man.

*Angelina was borderline red/green since she moved in. She had a want to have 3 best friends but I figured that'd never happen so I didn't even bother locking it. Then all of a sudden she was interacting with one of her daughters and shot up into platinum. I was so happy. I was really beginning to think the smart milk would go to waste with these girls.


I must admit Brad was thinking one step ahead during college. He gave me this energizer before he graduated and made me promise not to use it until we got married. I didn't really know how to use it anyways so I stuffed it in my closet and didn't look at it again until I moved in here. Some days it helped more then words can say. Twin toddlers can really wear a person out.


I won't even pretend I was a good mother. I barely managed to keep the house clean, make sure the girls were feed and happy, or teach them all of their toddler skills. I did manage to teach Shiloh how to talk before she became a kid and that in itself for me was a huge undertaking.

There wasn't enough time for me to teach Zahara how to talk but I managed to teach her how to walk. They were smart girls though and managed to figure the rest out on their own when they became kids.


As much as I wanted the girls to stay young forever I was glad they were past their terrible two's. I would finally be able to get a job without worrying too much about them. The first one to grow up into a kid was Shiloh.

She grew up with the cutest pigtails. I was glad to see her hair had grown out a bit during the transition.

Zahara was right behind Shiloh. I helped her blow out her candles and let her grow up.

Zahara grew up to be just as adorable as Shiloh. Both girls are very serious yet outgoing, but Zahara is a bit more active and about as grouchy as they come.

End Entry

*Thank you, maxis for randomizing the hair styles sims get when they transition now. I couldn't stand it if all the girls and boys had the same hair style.


Journal Entry - Kids Aren't Able to Stay Clean

Brad had a hard time letting the girls grow up. He was so use to being able to pick them up and tickle them but that part of their childhood had past so Brad took to tucking them in at night before he went to sleep instead.


He oftened started in Zahara's room and then went to Shiloh's room. Occasionally, one of them would hear him come in and they'd start giggling. Brad loved moments like those because that meant he could tickle them a little over their giggling while tucking them in.

Somethings never changed. Brad freely sponge bathed whenever his hygiene dropped enough while I tried to stay clean by washing my hands. Every now and then I'd sponge bathe but not very often. I felt terrible for the girls because they weren't able to sponge bathe yet so all they could do was wash their hands to stay clean.

The girls spent most of their childhood being miserable because they couldn't stay clean. I tried to cheer them up when they were down but it was hard especially with Zahara. She was the grouchiest kid I'd ever met and complained about everything and everyone constantly.


She was very active and outgoing though and loved to show off her gymnastic skills. One day while Dan Farmers had stopped by to say hi she did a headstand for him. She was quite the athlete back then.


Shiloh wasn't that much nicer then Zahara but she grew rather fond of the paperboy. Everyday he came by to drop off the newspaper she'd run out and greet him. He seemed amused by her eagerness to see him everyday and often laughed at her silly jokes.


After the girls were old enough to take care of themselves I got a job as a mailroom technician. After a few weeks I had worked my way up to a field sales representative. Everything seemed to be going well.


At least until the day I got demoted back down to executive assistant. It was then I decided I didn't want to stay in the business career path. I quit my job and started looking for a new one.


I decided it was time to tell the girls about their future and how they'd have to help restore the neighborhood. As we ate grilled cheese sandwiches they asked many questions and I tried to answer them the best I could. Neither of them seemed to keen on the idea but since they're both serious girls they listened intently and accepted their responsibilites.


Once the girls grew up some they helped out a lot with Kobe. Shiloh enjoyed playing with her and Zahara always made sure she was fed. It was nice to finally have some help around the house.

*I checked and Kobe is a female not a male. Oops!


The girls rarely went to school as kids. They did go to class three times but usually there was too much snow for the school bus to travel through to come and get them. It was actually a relief because the girls were doing terrible in school. They refused to do their homework until they could take a proper shower which of course they couldn't. By their last day of grade school both girls had a D- in their classes. If they did any worse they may have been taking away from Brad and I and neither one of us wanted that.


I couldn't believe my little babies were becoming teenagers already. It felt like just yesterday I was changing their diapers. Shiloh got to the cake first that time.


She chose to follow in her father's footsteps and became a pleasure sim with the lifetime want to have 50 first dates.


Zahara was all too eager to blow out her birthday candles too.


She chose something very different from Shiloh. She wanted to be a family sim and marry off 6 kids. She later told me she thought if she became a family sim and had 6 kids it would help revive the neighborhood much quicker. I agreed with her but told her raising 6 kids at a time like this would be very difficult.


Both girls were delighted that finally after going their entire childhood without a proper bath they could finally sponge bathe.

End Entry

*Almost instantaneously both girls ran to the sink after they transitioned. It was too funny.



Journal Entry - Watching as the Girls Become Woman

There wasn't many fun ways for the girls to learn new skills so Shiloh started learning how to cook by making a lunch meat sandwich for herself.

*I know the pet's show business restrictions prohibits kids and teens from learning skills by objects that don't build fun but I feel cooking, cleaning the bathrooms and repairing broken objects are normal everyday things and shouldn't count towards that. I won't let them study any skills via the bookshelf or computer until they become adults though.

Kobe finally reached the top of the pet services career. It took way longer then expected but at least she finally did it. In her defense it way kind of our fault since she needed to learn a pet trick for her final promotion and nobody realized it right away.


As I watched the girls play chess and max out their logic skills one evening I realized just how much they looked like me. They had my eye color, my hair color and the same skin tone and tatooes that I had. It's amazing how strong one parents genes can be.


My relationship with Brad wasn't what it once was but I had grown to love him in a different way. I admired him for what he wanted our family to do but I missed the young man I knew during college. Brad was a very different man when I agreed to marry him though and I had to accept it. I suppose the love people feel for others change and evolve as each person grows older.


Zahara had trouble fulfilling any of her wants early in her teens years and started taking her agression out on the garbage can. I hated getting upset at her over it because I knew how unhappy she was but I couldn't let her think it was okay. I made her clean up her mess everytime she knocked the garbage over.


I couldn't believe my husband, who was once a Celebrity Chef started a fire. The most amazing part of the whole ordeal was the ease in cooking what he burnt.


I had figured the fire started over a plate of lobster thermidor but no, it was over a toaster pastry of all things. He really was getting old and it was showing more and more everyday.


One afternoon a man by the name of Blite stopped by. He said Brad had helped the neighborhood have hope again. I was pleased to hear that and was eager to tell Brad what he'd said. Blite and I talked for several hours before he left. I thought he was such a nice guy. Maybe Zahara would like him too. I hoped he'd stop by again soon.



I took a new job in the science field and it was very rough on me at first. I often felt very sleepy and probably even feel asleep standing up a couple times. I was not use to working late at night.



My little girls were growing up so fast. Zahara made friends with Orlando who wandered by our home one day. She knew she probably wouldn't see him again for a while so she made her move. He responded warmly to her charming ways.

And it wasn't long before they shared their first kiss. Young love is such a beautiful thing.

I often thought back to when I met Brad back in college. Everything seemed so easy and fun then. As an adult though I knew that wasn't the way life really worked. Relationships were hard work and not usually easy.



Shiloh also found her first love around the same time. A bit to my surprise it was another female. I didn't have any issues with Shiloh liking a girl but as a mother you never really think your children will like sims of the same gender. Sophie was very nice to Shiloh and for that I was grateful. I knew the girls were having a hard time growing up in the neighborhood's horrible conditions and I was happy to know they had some good friends.

End Entry

I'm out of room so make sure to read Chapter 2.5 next. It's already up and posted.