The Burb Family

It's been hard deciding which family to write about, mostly because I would prefer to wait until the family is more or less complete--that is, eight members, all established or nearly established in their careers.  However, I've decided to just go ahead and introduce them and provide updates here and there as new things come up.  So, without further ado, the next family:  the Burbs!

It's been a while since I started/played one of the pre-made families, but the Burbs are an okay kind of family.  In keeping with the family's details, here's what I came up with so far.

Brad Burb, tired of the hustle and bustle--and never-ending noise--of the city, quit his job and moved his family into Old Town.  The house they bought with his severance pay came with twelve plots of ready-to-plant crop-growing land.  He had in mind the idea of becoming a sort of gentleman farmer, but realizing that he wasn't really cut out for it, decided to cut the twelve back to six...a much more manageable number.  The condition for their moving out of the city, however, was that he would take care of the household while Tiffany worked, so Brad is currently working on building up his cooking skills so they can all enjoy healthy meals.

Tiffany, a little disgruntled at having left the city behind, is adjusting well.  The commute's a pain, but the fresh air and the open space has been doing wonders for her health.  She's not the trendy ideal of beautiful, but she has the classic (and classy) beauty of one born to it and possessed of a certain kind of self-love--the kind that focuses on maintaining one's health and well-being through eating right and exercising regularly.  She's determined to make it to the top of the fashion world...or at least close to it.

Johnny was a little upset about leaving behind his friends in the city.  However, he's making the adjustment.  He's met a lot of kids his own age, and now that they have a house with a real yard, he and his dog Tucker can run around and play freely.  His mother has bought him a turtle that he plays with each morning and feeds each night, and he's getting used to the quiet.  His father's cooking, on the other hand...that's going to take some time and much more skill on Brad's part.

Shortly after moving out of the city and into Old Town, the Burbs ran into Tiffany's nephew, Ian, in the Downtown area.  Estranged from his parents (Tiffany's sister and brother-in-law), Ian left home and was surviving as a Paparazzi, living at the newspaper he took pictures for.  Tiffany promptly took him by the ear, dragged him into a cab, and brought him home.  Now eating regularly and with a much more comfortable place to sleep, Ian has now decided to follow in his father's footsteps--estranged they may be, but Ian inherited a certain set of skills that he can't deny--into the Paranormal field.

Although there are a lot of cats and dogs in the neighborhood, Tucker gets lonely during the day while Johnny's at school, so a couple of months after Ian moved in, the Burbs headed into Old Town, where Tiffany bought a female Dalmatian.  She promptly named her Dottie (Tiffany, for all her imagination with colors and fabrics, couldn't think of a better name).  Now Tucker and Dottie can entertain each other while Johnny's at school...although their wrestling matches seem less play and more like struggles for dominance.

Ian, though happy to have a place to call home, was a little lonely.  However, he was fortunate enough to meet a young woman named Willow while visiting the park in the Downtown area.  After a whirlwind courtship--she was sort of aggressive, and he was definitely interested--he asked her to marry her, and she agreed.  Willow is ready to take the Business world by storm...or the Xtreme circuit...whichever calls to her the loudest.

The Burbs are happy now...but Ian and Willow are waiting for their own bundle of happiness until they're both settled and established in their careers.  But if they're not careful, Tucker and Dottie may decide to pre-empt them with a bundle of their own!