Wait.. It's July??

Hello, hello! Welcome back to another article of Danni In Real Time! So here’s the D.I.R.T.. (I just made that up. Is it terrible?). So last time I updated you on what’s been happening, in the now, it was November. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can read that here. Since November, there’s been a lot of new and exciting things happening, and definitely a whole lot less of trees falling on our apartment building, in the middle of the night. Which is just the greatest of experiences, let me tell you.. ANYWAYS, grab yourself a bag of your favorite Ketchup flavored potato chips (or whatever you prefer), and let’s do this.

Where to begin.. Thanksgiving was great. We had a HUGE get together out on the island, and naturally, my dad, and uncle Pete shot off their homemade canon a few times. We get loud when everyone gets together. I also ate an entire Pecan Pie to myself for the second year in a row, in memory of my aunt Jen’s Pecan Pie, because she lives in South Dakota, and well, I don’t anymore. Christmas was.. Christmas. It’s generally the same most of the time, but it was good. OH! I bought my first, and very own Christmas tree, so I’m an adult now, I think? My favorite part of the season was wandering around the Seattle Zoo, which was covered in Christmas lights, then eating Hotpot at some fancy looking place in Bellevue.

And then came 2019…

The year started out not unlike most years do for me, with high hopes, and big resolutions; followed by lots of hiding from the cold, stuffing my face with junk, and focusing on what was to come, rather than what was happening. Go me. After about TWO FULL MONTHS of this, a huge family matter surfaced, and real life finally joined the new year. I’m not going to talk about it, some things are personal. The next thing that happened, was super cool, and… I got promoted. That’s it, a promotion. I’ve been learning a lot since then, and although I’m not perfect right now, I can’t wait to get there, and see how I grow from the experience. Shout out to all my co-workers for still loving me through all of my good, AND bad moments.

When mid-March rolled around, I got to see my best friend, which is already a HUGE highlight of my year. For a total of five days we got to toss aside our video chats, and SnapChat, and I got to show her all of the things that make me love this place that I have chosen. We did a lot in those five days, from ferry rides to the islands to a full on Final Destination marathon, and everything in between. I’m already planning for her next visit. So hurry the hell up, Kylie!

After Kylie’s visit, it was a busy month full of working, and saving up money, in preparation for my mom and step-dad’s visit, at the end of April. They rented an amazing house out here, on Lake Samish, and I wore them the hell out by making them walk around everywhere. I think they enjoyed their visit. At least I hope so, although it felt a lot like I was just running around going, “Hey mom, look how good I’m doing. Look at all the things I have. Look at what I’ve done!”. When you decide to move halfway across the country from your mother, with only a few months notice, I feel like you are obligated to brag about all of the good things that came from that decision. Am I right?! Anyways, thanks for coming to visit me Mom and Scott, love you guys!

I enjoyed every second of the week that my mom was here, all except for one drive back to my apartment, from their lake house. What should have been a quick 15 minutes drive, turned into about an hour- give or take. It was my fault, really, I had been having problems with my car loosing coolant, and on this day I had forgotten to check my fluids before leaving my place. Let’s be honest, I should have just had the whole issue fixed long before this night happened, but of course, periodically I am a complete and total idiot, so my car started overheating. I had to stop on the side of the freeway, at 11pm, THREE TIMES before I finally made it to the first exit of Bellingham, and hauled ass into the first gas station I saw, NASCAR style. The gas station was closed. I had to walk to another one to get coolant, but garsh darnit if I didn’t make it.

None of that was even the point though. I took my car in to the shop that week, and wouldn’t you know it, my problem was the most expensive of all the things that could be wrong. They quoted me a grand total of $900 and something, for a head gasket. Which happens to be insanely good for a head gasket, so I’m glad I went ahead and did it. Seriously, look up a head gasket, that shit is complex. They even tried real hard to beat the book time, of seven hours, and did it! The whole thing ended up being cheaper then the initial quote, so yay! A few days after I got my car back, I was talking to my best friend, as I got ready to drive down to Mount Vernon for the day. I cracked a joke- “Well, we’ll find out today if my car is really fixed!”. I had almost gotten to my dad’s house when I noticed steam coming from under my hood. I stopped in the parking lot of a hotel close by, got out of my car, and watched coolant pour out from under it. You know when you have to pee, and you’ve been holding it forever, and then finally get to go? It was a lot like that, but along with the shattered hopes of my bank account, you know what I mean?

I hung out with my grandma, while waiting for a tow truck to come, and take me the half hour drive back to the shop, in Bellingham, because I had a warranty on the parts that they had just fixed. This was the first time I have ever been towed, but the guy was great to talk to, so that made the whole experience less of a nightmare. Really though, after everything I have been through in my entire car owning life, I wasn’t even phased by this point. Turned out it didn’t have anything to do with the parts that they had originally fixed. This new problem was actually on the opposite side of the engine from where they were working, and I probably could have just taken my car to a shop in Mount Vernon, real quick, because it was just a little plastic connector on the heater hose! UGH! Whatever. I didn’t know.

At the beginning of June, a few of my friends, and I, spent an hour and a half drive, playing some crazy phone game, on our way down to Seattle. Our first stop was, of course, Din Tai Fung, for delicious dumplings, and our usual experience of someone eating out of a serving bowl, with a ladle. We spent quite a while walking all that off at Uwajimaya, (Giant Asian market, in Seattle’s Chinatown), while picking up tons of snacks, and I practically dragged Trung to the food court, because I had been craving Pork Buns for months! After that, we headed towards our show, the whole reason we were in Seattle in the first place. The first show I have ever been to at a Paramount Theater! Game Grumps! It was so fun! I had bought the tickets for Trung’s birthday, but I think I enjoyed it most… and now I’m a fan-girl, because Arin and Danny crack me the hell up, and I’m a sucker for comedians. And nerds.

One Last Thing…

I meant to post this at the beginning of July, BUT I was a little busy.. killing myself. WE MOVED! Not anywhere drastic, we actually didn’t even leave the apartment complex. We transferred into one of the three biggest apartments here, and it is wonderful. Even though the moving process was totally defeating.

I’ll show pictures later, maybe, but I’m in kind of a hurry to finish this up on account of- I published it before it was ready. woops! Last night I got distracted by the original “Karate Kid” movie, and hit “Pubish”, instead of “Save”. Then I proceeded to freak out, while my roommates looked at me like I’m crazy.

There. You’re all caught up. & THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE!

xoxo Danni.