There is never a dull moment at the Avalon house.

It's a normal Sunday night in Davis - our entire house is home and we're all doing various things. After a long but full of blessings week, our house is just relaxing and thinking about Flightplan...the movie we saw the night before. Then things start getting interesting. As i'm reading in the quietness of our room, a distant voices pierces the silence.

"Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiif!" "Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiif!"

As I run to the aid of my dear roommate crystal, I realize that the voice is coming from inside the bathroom..the bathroom with the shower. It turns out that the shower sliding door (which has been broken since we moved in) was completely falling apart. The entire frame was torn from the wall and the whole structure was falling over. (Note: I didn't see this with my own eyes yet....this is Crystal yelling in panic about what was happening) By this time, Ana and Faustine have come out too...and we're all standing at the foot of the locked door like baffled monkeys, trying to decide the best way to break into our bathroom to save crystal.

So first....we try the old fashioned approach. We untwist a bobby pin and stick it into the small hole, hoping that by some miraculous act of God, the tiny head of the pin will somehow turn the lock from the other side of the door. After several failed attempts, we get crafty. Faustine runs and grabs the screw driver and Ana and I begin to UNSCREW the doorknob. After we get our side out, we pound the door so the other side of the knob falls out. All this while, crystal is yelling..."GUys?!??! Hurry!" We can't go any faster crystal! Haha....just kidding Crystal. We wouldn't want you to be stuck forever.

Anyways...after successfully breaking into our own bathroom, we find Crystal desperately holding the crumbling sliding door frame from the other side of the shower....stark naked. (Don't worry...all we saw was a blob of unidentifiable flesh.)  After getting crystal a towel and relieving her of the frame, we see the damage. The door is indeed off the wall and the peeling paint is visible.  And to top it off...Faustine runs in with a camera to document crystal in her towel and state of panic and us laughing uncontrollably.

So as you can see....something's always brewing in the Avalon house.

HAHA TIffF!!!! My xanga is still alive. (Heehee...don't even think about deleting me. Just kidding! )

Well, I finally have the will power to write in my xanga once more. I realized I kind of missed it....eprops, comments, xanga stalking...all that jazz. But yes, to all the souls who still read this thing, thank you ...just know that i LOVE YOU!

My summer with the Young Continental Singers was very FULL and AWESOME...so i guess that would make it..fully awesome! Haha...I think God is slowly confirming in my heart that He wants me to work with young teens in the future....it's so refreshing to seem them genuinely excited to serve God. You don't see that very often.  But yes... I can't possibly write out everything that happened on a xanga...so i would LOVE to tell you about it person and see what GOd has been teaching YOU this summer as well.  Yes...YOU!

I'm going back to Davis this coming weekend...I think I'm ready for school to start. But yes....come visit! Crystal and I would be absolutely giddy to show you our cool-almost-identical-in-every-aspect room. (our comforters clash, but that's about it. haha!)

I simply love my "gottamangos" as crystal calls us. Soaking up each other's presence...or was it basking? Haha...whatever it is, I'm glad we have all become even closer friends, even after spending a year at college. Ah man, I didn't realize all the little things I missed about us all just being together...like someone yelling out "Tiffany" and both me and TiffF turning simultaneously, or talking about crafts and fabric and anything at all that is at Michael's Craft store with Jo....and even though Crystal and I have basked in each other's presence at Davis...there's nothing like trying to crawl under you blanket to discover a Crystal waiting to scare you.  I love you guys so dearly.

The Gottamangos! Or the Fantastic Foursome...my dad's only funny around you guys anyway. :) haha! I can't wait until I get back from the Midwest and do this all over again. And TiffF - you had better practice that chinese talk while i'm gone!

Oh my. What a fun week this has been since i've been home. After a slew of graduations/graduation parties with my beloved Ichthus and FINALLY getting together with Jo after months and catching up, even MORE fun things have been popping up everwhere!

1) I turned on the TV last Saturday morning and to my EXTREME delight, the ORINIGAL POWER RANGERS was on!! The ones with Tommy as the green ranger and kimberly and Trini!! Oh my....it was one of the happiest TV moments of my life.

2) I got my ears flushed out yesterday! I had problems hearing for the past month...but after the doctor cleaned all the gunk out of my ear...everthing in the world is extremely loud! I would flush the toilet and cringe because i never knew water could be so ridiculously loud.

3) My Grandpa is hilarious. He watches basketball with the sound muted...and yells "VERY GOOD" in cantonese everytime somebody makes a basket. We all decided that for his next b-day, we're going to take him to his very first real live b-ball game in his life! I'm going to buy him a foam finger.

4) Seemingly disastrous hair coloring parties can be loads of fun. So crystal and I had a STREAKING party! Yup...the first time she ever highlighted anyone's hair.  So after Strike 1...the roots of my hair were a bright blonde/orange color...it would have been really nice if i had parted it somewhere else, but in reality, the roots of my hair looked like a mix of halloween with the rest of my dark hair. So...after successfully freaking out, the both of us dashed back to crystal's hosue and grabbed a box of DARK dye and went on for round two. Whilst awaiting the results, we had fun with the extra dye in the form of our two little brothers. Oh how we love Timmy and Jonjon! They're such good sports. So yes...round two was a success! We ended up with the light brown hightlights that i wanted in the first place....WITH the love strand! A light blonde strand in deep layers of my hair as a reminder of our first attempt. I like it. It's quite interesting and will prompt many stories.

"I'm going to highlight my hair....because i think some strands are more important than others." - Dr. E at the IV talent show.

Dear God,

I think I'm in denial. I can't believe I'm home already! Am I really never going back to Miller Hall? Is my first year at college really over? Wow...time surely escapes us. But even through all the tears of goodbye, you always remind me of what a BLESSING this year has been. You have shown me more of your heart...your love for me, for those in need,....you have let me see the love between brothers and sisters in Christ that is only possible because YOU loved us FIRST. And even though this year has been amazingly hard at times, you have never let me forget that you are above all of this.  Your heart is brimming with compassion and patience...and I pray that you continues to conform my heart to be like yours. Thank you for molding me this year....for shaping me and never giving up on me.

Love, Tiffany

"Oh Lord...for all the worst and all the best...I AM BLESSED." - Blessed by Rachel Lampa