Cheers to New Years!

Chandler was living on and off with the Potter’s in the late fall of 2019 as he was inbetween homes before his move back to California. In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving Chandler and Andie were being put next to each other by Tiff and Katie at the movies, family gatherings, and football games. They first spent extended time talking when Chandler was invited to spend Thanksgiving with the Potters and Sahagians at the Statham’s home. While there, he joined in on a game of Ticket to Ride with Evan, Allie, Grace, and Andie. Chandler and Andie didn’t talk much until the end of the game, when Andie purposely made an unfair trade with Chandler, giving him enough pieces to finish his route and prevent Evan and Allie from winning. The next day, Tiff and Katie developed a plan to sit Chandler and Andie next to each other at Lynden’s playoff football game. Sparks began to fly after a few hours of talking and laughing, leading to a first date the following Monday.

After some solid encouragement from Lem, Chandler decided he was going to ask Andie on a date the next time he saw her at church. However, the moment came and passed that Sunday morning with no invitation to a date. Chandler, kicking himself in his car after service decided to slide a DM to Andie on Instagram. With the help of Allie, Andie replied to Chandler’s message with enthusiasm and a date was set for the next day. Andie and Chandler messaged on Instagram the day leading up to the first date and Andie mentioned her deep love for Christmas music. Chandler, the new proud owner of a ‘94 Ford Ranger, realized he had no way of playing Christmas music for their date, so he rushed to Best Buy a few hours before he was supposed to pick up Andie and bought a new stereo deck with bluetooth. He rushed back to work, where Gabe taught Chandler how to solder wires and install the stereo. After succesfully getting his truck’s sound system up to date, Chandler rushed home to clean up before picking Andie up. The date started with dinner at a sushi restaurant connected to a gas station just across the boarder in Canada (Chandler and Lem swear by it as the best sushi in close proximity to Bellingham). The conversation at dinner was so fun, Chandler asked Andie if she’d want to keep talking over a game of mini-golf down the highway at Castle Fun Park. She agreed and the two spent hours playing mini golf and arcade games before finally heading back to Lynden. The drive back was full of laughter and great conversation. The two agreed to hang out soon when saying goodnight. On his drive back home, Chandler reflected on what an amazing time he had with Andie and realized they never even turned on the stereo he had frantically installed because their conversation and laughter never broke the whole time they were together.