tessa-enright.com

Pictures

I finally am getting around to editing and uploading some of the photos I scanned while I was in Arizona.

I may not have mentioned it before, but I undertook the huge task of scanning all of my mother's photos. I did half of them last summer, and the other half during the week I stayed with them in May.

So, here are some photos taken while I was in Arizona in May with my family.

This is my Granana

We have a strange family tradition of wearing funny hats while playing games. This is my dad and my brothers. We played Mexican Train Dominoes and Cranium.

My brothers and I the night of Nathaniel's high school grad. Would have been a great picture if he kept his eyes open!

Kampfkatze

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What Do You Think?

So, what do you think about my new look?

I think it's super cute, but that's just my opinion.

I get bored with things pretty quickly, so I suddenly had the urge to change things up a bit. I was playing around with photoshop and I liked what I did, so I went with it!

The banner has a picture of the Dresden Panorama, and I also tried to incorporate a "mail theme". Anyways, Mike said it was very "girly", and I said, "Well, I'm a girl!".

The title is new as well. There is a story behind it...

I had a summer job where I worked in the dorms during conferences at NAU. I lived there with the rest of the staff, so we spent lots of time together. They quickly learned that there were lots of things that I didn't like, such as the salad dressing touching the other food on the plate, being touched, or speaking to people before 10am, etc.

One of my co-workers suggested we make a list of the things "Tessa Disapproves of", but then she said,

"No, that would be too long. It would be much easier if we just made a list of things "Tessa Approves of". That would be much shorter.

So it kind of became a running gag. If I liked or disliked something, they would say "Tessa does/does not approve".

Anyways, I approve of this blog and its super cute new layout.

We finally got curtains. But they seemed to only sell really long, floor-length curtains. The woman at Toom said we could get them custom-made, and I said "Yeah, right!"

I decided that I would attempt to cut and hem the curtains on my own. I've never actually hemmed anything in my life, but how hard can it be?

Well, it was a little tricky, but I did it. And now my curtains are slightly crooked, but they are hanging and doing their thing. So I am happy.

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New Apartment

Just wanted to share a few pictures of our new apartment. I am really wiped out after all of the moving and unpacking, but we are finally settled and out of there! Just a few more little things on the list.

Penny was rather frightened after the move. She hid in the closet and wouldn't come out. But eventually when she did I showed her the balcony, and she cautiously sniffed around. I think she liked it.

Here is our kitchen. We still need chairs and curtains in all of the rooms.

This is a view of our apartment, we are on the first floor and that is our balcony. Most of the people have lots of plants and German flags (because of the Euro Cup) on their balconies, but I don't have much of a green thumb so we will probably just use it for storage and maybe buy some chairs to sit out there and eat or read.

Here is a view of my desk where I am sitting at this very moment...how interesting.

Penny was exhausted after all of the moving. It was hard working carrying all of that furniture, but she is a champ.

Here is our teeny little bedroom. Somehow we managed to fit all of the furniture in there, plus a new desk. And no, I never make my bed.

Here is our exciting bathroom. We picked orange...don't know why, since I hate orange. Although, I guess you could also say that my banner is orange? I'm just confused I guess.

I had to have this sign when I saw it. The verb kämpfen means to fight or to battle, so basically it's like a "Beware of Dog" sign. Pretty sweet. She is ferocious, watch out!

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Absentee Voting

I was asked by someone, how do you register for absentee voting if you will be living overseas?

The rules may or may not vary by state. But in my state (Arizona), I just did a quick google search and found my state's Secretary of State web page.

I found this page which lists all of the states and their websites, but if you can't find it on the list, just do an internet search for "-your state here- Secretary of State"

At the Arizona Secretary of State website there is a link for information about voting, and once I follow that link, I see another link to information about Military and Overseas Voting.

Your state secretary's website should either provide an online form that you can print out called a Federal Post Card and Absentee Ballot Request (FPCA), or information on how to obtain one.

There are deadlines for turning in this form, which vary by state, and election type, so make sure you do this ahead of time!

In order to fill out the FCPA, you must know the mailing address that you will want to use overseas.

On the Arizona application, they gave me a few choices for how I would like to receive my ballots: by mail, fax, or email. Make sure that each option is available in your state and county before selecting it.

There was also the option of changing your political party at the same time, if you would like to do that. And some states require that on the application you provide your political party for primary elections.

You need to send the FCPA to the county clerk in the county in which you are registered to vote.

After I sent my FCPA (about six months before I was coming to Germany), I didn't get any response after three months, so I got kind of woried. I looked up their website again, found a contact to email in the voting department, and asked if they had received my ballot. They had (maybe they don't send you anything in return, or maybe my county office is a little slow). So if you don't get a response or are confused, you could try looking for someone to contact on your state's secretary of state website.

With these important elections coming up in November, you wouldn't want to miss the chance to vote! So if you are moving abroad, be sure to fill this application out ahead of time!

This information is only based on my own internet search and personal experience. If you have any questions, or for information that may vary by state and county, please contact your county clerk!

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Europa

Test your geographical knowledge of Europe. I scored 90/141, kind of lousy. I didn't know any of the countries east of Poland.

Thanks to Eurotrippen for the link.

Update

There is a wicked thunderstorm outside so I will try to post this quick since our internet keeps going on & off. It almost makes me feel like I'm back in Arizona for monsoon season.

This photo does not do it justice. We had our windows open for about 30 seconds before we rushed to shut them, but there were already puddles on the ground.

What is the worst about it is we can't open our windows, which means it is miserable and humid in our apartment. My eliptical machine tells the temperature, and for my American friends, 28 C = 82 F. Pretty warm. And that's not including the humidity. (How do you like my old school iPod?)

Oh, and for kicks, here is a picture of me trying to look purrty. We are moving our furniture tomorrow and I conveniently have a cough, and possibly a cold. Fun!

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