University - some of the early lessons

Wait, where are the pics of the kids growing up?Why is this straight to University.

Well, I didn't think to take any baby/toddler/child pictures of Lydia, or Miranda in this family. Nor Gerry or Jenna Posinson. It wasn't until later that I got around to taking pics of toddlers and children.

Gerry and Jenna Posinson were the first of my Sims to go to University. Gerry only just made it, he was about to grow to adult when I got and installed the new EP. I made several mistakes when I sent Gerry and Jenna to University.

1. I didn't know to have him ring and apply for scholarships. For every skill they reached a certain level, they could earn a scholarship and there were some bonus scholarships too.
2. I didn't think to have Gerry put a few things in his inventory to make life better at University
3. I should have left his little sister Jenna home a few more days
4. I should not have sent as many other Sims as I did from the home neighborhood. The Pleasant twins and a couple other teens went. They ended up in spare dorms and it took 2 generations for the Pleasant girls to finally get out.

I didn't realise that they'd want their good friends and relatives to go to University too. Gerry wanted his best buddy, Ricky Cormier to go. Jenna wanted a townie called Sterling to go - Sterling was moved almost immediately to a spare dorm and never progressed at University.

Lydia Testing went fairly soon after Gerry but she ended up with some scholarship money. So she rented a house and converted it to a Greek house. It was interesting, in real life, I'd never step foot in a Greek house. In Sims 2, I loved that Greek house far more than the dorms and all my Sims would end up Greek after a short stay in dorms unless there was no room at all. Lydia also brought a townie with her, his name was William Cormier (no relation to Ricky).

So here's the gang at the Greek house


Lydia has brown hair, a dormie called Zoe is the blond, Ricky Cormier is in his blue PJs, the black haired guy is Gerry and the blond guy is William. In spite of being born in game, these seem to be the only pre-adult pics I have at all of Gerry. Lydia did get a few more pics at University.

Ricky Cormier ended up being the first Sim I ever had inducted into the Secret Society. When the girl arrived and handcuffed him, my first impression was "Wow, Ricky, that's a bit kinky" I think all the Sims that finished University did make the secret society before they graduated. The requirements weren't that hard.

The Testing Family - the beginnings

Vanny Testing was the first Sim I created for Sims 2 that I stayed with.


Vanny was a fortune sim and he taught me a lot about business. At first it was how not to run a business. Our first attempt was a home shop and he went broke because I couldn't set prices etc. Since his life time goal was to have 5 top ten businesses, it was a long uphill battle to get him there.

He pretty much married the first female Sim he met and got along with. She happened to be Florence Delarosa. I hadn't heard of the Legacy Challenge or I might have done the research to find that she owned a business and was considered a wealthy Sim. When she moved in, Vanny had no more money troubles.

Vanny and Florence had 4 kids. Lydia, Miranda, and the cheesecake twins Lucy and Larry. Here's a pic with the twins


Poor Florence nearly died when pregnant with Miranda. Lydia was still a toddler, Florence was very hungry and ate some bad food when I wasn't paying attention. Between the morning sickness and the bad food, she very nearly starved to death. Fortunately Vanny could make meals so all she had to do was eat when the next meal was done. Preggy Sims died easily in Sims 2, they starved quite easily.