sims and the sea

Laurel Cardwell has always wanted to be anything but her mother, but that’s not to say that she dislikes her parents or holds a grudge against them. Honestly, Laurel had no room to complain about her upbringing: she grew up in a nice cul-de-sac, her parents both doctors, and never had to want for anything. She was the popular girl in high school, and had tons of friends who appreciated her, and was the best performing shortstop in the state for softball. It was like the picture-perfect teen movie, but Laurel longed to be something more. Her mother, behind closed doors, had a drinking problem that she drowned her stress into after being on call and dealing with the grittiness of working in the medical field; her father was there, and was supportive, but always seemed to favor her older brother over Laurel. It was things like this that made Laurel promise herself that she wouldn’t end up like them, and that she would do what she wanted to and not what everyone else preferred.

Her parents were less than thrilled when she graduated and announced she wanted to study botany, while her brother smiled sadly and hugged her. “Don’t follow your heart,” her mother whispered, tears brimming her eyes. “You’re supposed to follow your brain instead.” Laurel still laughs about that to this day. They didn’t understand that this is what she wanted both in her heart and her brain, and her gut was telling her she was making the right decision. Laurel followed her own dreams and after getting her degree, she was proudly making the decision to freelance while she learned everything there was to know about botany. She has never been happier as when she’s surrounded by all her plants in her garden, and the bees from her hive are buzzing happily among the flowers.

If you were to ask Laurel to describe herself, she’d immediately flush all over and begin to stutter, trying to find the words that scramble across her mind quickly. She might say that she’s a simple girl, preferring soft makeup and gentle outfits that don’t bind against her and give her movement, or she could even say that she’s an old soul locked inside a young body. At twenty-four, Laurel feels like her life hasn’t even begun yet, and with that also her journey to find herself. All she knows, honestly, is that she’s right where she needs to be for the time being, and she’s happy to wake up every day in search of the bigger answer to “who are you?”.

However, there’s one thing that Laurel wants that she hasn’t found yet, and that’s a partner to walk that journey with her. Dating around in high school was atrocious (but we all already knew that) and college wasn’t much better; she always found herself longing for something more than just frat dates and beer keg stands. She doesn’t know exactly what qualities would make her fall in love, but Laurel’s a smart girl, and she’ll know the moment she finds it.

Some facts about Laurel:

    ⬥ Laurel is shorter than average, and she curses any time she has to climb onto her kitchen counters to reach something. Also, have you ever tried to collect sunflower seeds when they’re about four feet taller than you? Laurel would roll her eyes right about now.

    ⬥ She broke her leg playing softball and has started to feel the ache of old age settling into the bone. Thankfully, Laurel knows how to use her plants to make a kickass salve that helps take away some of the pain.

    ⬥ The decision to become vegetarian only came after she began to collect a huge surplus of veggies around her house after quitting her professional botanist job and became freelance. She loves saving the animals, but also loves preventing waste by not letting her garden harvests go bad. 

    ⬥ Is there where she finally gets to mention as a positive that she won prom queen her senior year in high school? No? Yes? Laurel doesn’t really care, and is more ashamed than proud that she won, but she’s always waited for the moment she could use it to help herself out. Everyone acts like it’s such an important title, but she just never understood.

    ⬥ Laurel went viral at one point! She made a fifteen minute video about quick starting a raised garden in an urban setting, and to her shock it gained over a million views within three months of her uploading it to SimTube. Her friends have been trying to convince her ever since to upload frequently and use her position to bring awareness and attention to botany. It scares the crap out of her, though.

     ⬥ She tends to fall asleep in the rocking chair on her back porch while watching her plants against the sunsets. The warmth of the day’s last rays of sun against her skin, the creaking of the chair, and the glistens of the freshly water plants just sets her at ease so much that she can’t help but snooze.

    ⬥ Actually, Laurel isn’t fooling anybody. She could fall asleep anywhere, and at any given time. She’s a pretty sleepy person in general. Laurel loves taking day naps, surrounded by her blankets and a fan blowing gently in the background.

    ⬥ Her favorite snack is edamame. She could eat the crap out of those things all day, every day if she was ever given the opportunity. Extra salt too, please!

    ⬥ She may be an awful dancer, but she has so much fun doing it that she doesn’t care to make a fool of herself. This happens frequently, too.

    ⬥ Laurel is a huge fan of craft beer, but she doesn’t talk about it much. Most people scoff if they hear someone mention it, but she genuinely enjoys trying different brews and has always wanted to create her own. She’d love to focus on plant-derived finings instead of animal-derived so that vegetarians and vegans wouldn’t have to worry about what was inside it.