Fall 2012 - University

Felicity London (2nd year grad student), Davis Vanderburg and Genesis Sartor (1st year grad students), Derek Todd and Maia Hayes (sophomores), Geneva Rossi, Owen Rossi, and Violet Cormier (freshmen)

The new school year brought a new crop of freshmen to campus as the Rossi twins and Violet Cormier left high school behind to begin their college careers.

Violet was very flattered that the older college boys seemed to take notice of her right away.  However she tried to play it cool.  She did still have a boyfriend who was still finishing up high school.

She was excited to be sharing a room with her BFF Geneva.  Both girls had a feeling this was going to be a great year.

Even with new faces around campus, Felicity found it impossible to totally avoid Davis, and he was grateful for that.

When he managed to catch her in the hallway, he kept the conversation light and friendly and congratulated her on how far she'd come with her studies.

He left the conversation feeling better about things between them.  Maybe they had a change to get their relationship back on track after all.

Even though she was busy with studying for classes and meeting new people, Violet still made time to call Bryan and tell him all about college life and the new friends she was making.

She hated to admit that she found his high school talk kind of boring.  She'd moved past those things and was starting to wonder if she was moving past him as well.

Especially when there were so many cute guys around all the time.  She was even beginning to see Owen in a new light.  He'd gotten better looking as he'd gotten older.

Even though they flirted a little, Owen's heart was still with Charlotte.  He parents had kept a tight rein on her since they found out she was pregnant and he'd only seen her once since she'd moved back to Eden, but he thought about her a lot and tried to call her when he could.

Lunch in the cafeteria was awkward when Felicity found herself alone with Maia and they still happened to be wearing matching pajamas.  She made a mental note to herself to buy another pair and tried to be cordial, even though she couldn't help thinking about how much she'd like to see Maia's ghost.

Things got even more awkward when Davis walked in.  Felicity didn't like the way he looked at Maia.

But when he walked over flashing that dazzling smile of his . . .

She knew she was still smitten with him.

She wondered if she'd been too hard on him.  After all it did seem to be only Maia that was initiating things between them.

Maybe it was time to kiss and make up.

Things hadn't been going well for Violet.  She'd come down with food poisoning and was advised to rest as much as possible.  She spent a lot of time in the lounge watching television, wishing she could get back to focusing on her studies.

One night as she was getting ready for bed, she collapsed.

Luckily Geneva heard her fall and woke up in time to call and ambulance.  Violet was taken to the hospital and treated for extreme dehydration.  She missed a few weeks of class, but luckily was able to come back to school in time for finals, so she could complete the semester.  It was a major scare and Geneva was shaken by the incident for days afterwards.

Meanwhile, Owen was treated to a special surprise.  Charlotte had talked her parents into allowing her to travel back to New Eden for a college visit.  Although she knew she would be lucky to finish high school after having a baby and wasn't sure she was really interested in going to college, she knew her parents,  her mother especially, were hoping she'd be able to further her education.  She just wanted a chance to see Owen and her old friends again.

"So what is it like being a mother?" Geneva asked.
"It's a lot of hard work . . . it is so much work," Charlotte emphasized. "I kind of feel bad though that I'm probably going to miss out on living the college life like you and Owen are."

"It's fun living in the dorms, but honestly, I think I'm ready to move out and see world.  I'm ready to start my own life."
"Do you think you'll drop out?  What are you planning to do if you aren't in school."
"I'm not sure," Geneva thought.  "But there world out there seems to big and exciting to waste my time sitting in class all day.  Maybe I'll give it another semester and then decide."

Charlotte was excited to be on campus for the dorm's big end of semester party.             

Hoping to find a little romance, Geneva got brave and decided to make a move.

Derek, however, wasn't interested.  He seemed to only have eyes for Genesis.

It took her a little while to get the hint that they just wanted to be alone and that she might need to look somewhere else for romance.

(Darn "realistic" sickness mod strikes again.  And this time the Grim Reaper blocked the bed, so Geneva couldn't get up and help her friend.  I had to exit without saving because I didn't wanted Violet to die yet.  She's too interesting to me.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do about some of my students.  They have no interest in studying or going to class.  Yet, the show up for the final and pass the semester anyway.  I'm not sure all of them are going to still be in college after next semester if they keep it up.)

Summer 2012 - London-Carlson Wedding

Bruce Lillard (62), Joy London (23), Bridget and Bryce Ebadi (7)

Since Uncle Bruce insisted that Joy not put off her wedding for his or the children's sakes, Joy decided to start making plans.  She invited Felicity over for lunch and a day of shopping.  As a nice gesture, she decided to invite Bridget along too.

Bridget was delighted to be included with the big girls' day out.

She gloated about it to Bryce as they left, but he didn't mind.  He'd much rather stay home and play with the puppy than go on a boring, girly shopping trip.

Their first stop was the mall where they looked for dresses to wear to the wedding.

"Wow, Joy!  Look at you, sissy.  You are going to be a beautiful bride!"

After trying on one dress, Bridget was getting bored with shopping.

She spotted her best friend, Kendra, outside running errands with her mom and asked Joy if it was alright if she went outside to talk with her instead.

While Felicity waited on Joy in the dressing room, she noticed a strange man come up and give Bridget a friendly hug.

"Uh, Bridget, honey . . . do you know him?"

"I'm giving out free hugs today.  Would you like one?"

"Uh, no thanks.  I think you'd better go on your way."

After shopping, the girls went out for a nice lunch.

"This looks like a really nice place," Bridget remarked.  "I think I'll order the lobster."

"Lobster? Are you sure you like lobster?" Joy asked. "Maybe you should choose something a little safer . . . and less expensive," she added under her breath.  "Hey, look they have mac n cheese."

Joy was relieved that Bridget decided to go with the mac n cheese.

Felicity was appalled by Joy and Bridget's table manners.  "Hey, watch out!  You're getting your crumbs in my spaghetti.  Gross."

"Joy, I can't believe you're really getting married.  It's hard to believe we're old enough for that already.  It's like you're really a grown-up now."

"Watch out, you'll be next."

"Maybe," Felicity said, twirling the strands of spaghetti on her fork.

"When you were my age, what did you want to be when you grew up?" Bridget asked.

"I don't know.  I think I always wanted to be famous, like as an actress or a model, or maybe a politician."

"You did always want to be in the limelight," Felicity agreed.

"Now, you're going to be on TV."

"If everything goes according to plan . . . I really hope it works out with having my own show.  I really want it to be successful.  Maybe even win a few awards."

Felicity stayed over on the night before the wedding, so she could be there bright and early to help get ready.  They had a light, healthy breakfast, before getting their hair and makeup done and getting dressed for the wedding.

Everything was all set up by the time the guests started to arrive.  Joy was disappointed when she woke up in the morning to gray skies and drizzling rain, but luckily they were able to set up a tent, so they could still have their outdoor wedding.

Maybe they were a little anxious for the ceremony.  Not all of the guests were seated when Alon and Joy started exchanging their vows.

They were so glad to have their friends and family present for their big day.

Surrounded by flowers and rose petals in bright autumn colors, it was just what Joy had dreamed of.

And even more importantly she was standing next to the man of her dreams.  She knew they were going to have a happy future together.

Felicity looked over at Chase, seated next to her, and wondered what he was thinking.  She wondered if he regretted not being in Alon's place at the altar.  He'd always said he wasn't the marrying type, so maybe he thought he had dodged a bullet.  If he had any thoughts about the past, he was keeping them to himself.

After the ceremony, the bride and groom cut the cake.

And very daintily fed each other a bite.

Uncle Bruce seemed to have some choice words for their older brother Jimmy about settling down and getting serious about his life. 

Jimmy wasn't interested in hearing it.  He wasn't sure he wanted to settle down with one woman.

"Okay, I'll get off your back," Bruce conceded.  "I am proud of you for following through with your education and completing your degree."

The guests took their cake inside to eat.  Joy noticed Felicity and Davis standing together is awkward silence as she ended up sitting next to Chase.

He offered his congratulations and assured her that anything between them was in the past.  They were just kids when they were fooling around with each other.  Now she was moving on with her life and he promised he'd never try to stand in the way of her happiness.

After cake, Joy's other older brother, Frank, sat down at the piano and played some music for the guests to dance too.

Despite the fact that the rain had started to come down harder, some of the guests insisted on staying outside.  They panicked when a tree in the yard was struck by lightning and caught on fire, but only momentarily.

Once the fire was out, they went back to what they were doing,

playing in the rain.

Meanwhile the bride and groom were inside, sharing their first dance.

They didn't care that they guests were outside playing in the rain,

they were glad for a few intimate moments alone.

As they danced, the party was winding down.  Felicity and Bridget watched some television in the living room before bedtime.

And Bryce had disappeared upstairs hours ago.

He wasn't at a loss of how to amuse himself.

Joy and Alon Carlson will be remaining on this lot.  There's enough room to build a separate little house for the newlyweds, so they can have their own private space, yet remain close to help Uncle Bruce with the children.