tessa-enright.com

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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die Abenteuerin

Abenteuerin adventuress

The title of this blog post is sarcastic, since I am anything but.

As I was scanning my Wörterbuch (English-German dictionary) for appropriate titles for this blog entry, I was reminded of something that I think is very cool about the German language: just about any German word can be dissected into parts and you can discover its meaning. It's actually kind of fun.

My German oral exam is not on Tuesday like I thought, but next month (collective sigh of relief)! My German comprehension has increased a lot, but my speech and grammar is still abysmal. And whenever I am in a situation where a German speaks to me, any German knowledge that I had suddenly goes out the window and I am speaking cave-man German or just copping out by saying "Ich verstehe nicht!" (I don't understand).

But back to the title of the blog...

Mike and I are working on the necessary paperwork for us to join in holy matrimony sometime this summer. On Thursday Mike said to me, "So tomorrow you will go to the consulate in Leipzig and get this form."

"Huh? We are going to Leipzig tomorrow?" I replied.

"No, you are."

Of course this made me scared. I usually try not to expose myself to situations where I may have to actually speak German. I mean, I have "mastered" the trams in Dresden and I can pretty comfortably go to class and shopping by myself. But travelling to a whole different city on my own? No way!

"It will be easy. You will get a train to Leipzig and then you'll have to take a taxi to the consulate."

"Huh? Taxi? I have to talk to a taxi driver? No! I can't do it. Boo hoo!"

"It will be easy, I know you can do it."

"I know that I can. But I don't want to!"

So on Friday morning I got on a train to Leipzig. We had compromised by deciding that I would not take a taxi but walk, so Mike printed me out a map. For some reason the taxi idea really freaked me out.

The trip was relatively uneventful. The walk was not that long, the weather in Leipzig was nice, and I got to walk through the center and see some of the nice buildings, although I didn't know what I was looking at. I think this picture is of a church.

The consulate was weird. The whole street was blocked off and I couldn't figure out where I was supposed to go in, so I wandered around for a while. There were lots of cops, so finally I just approached one. Suddenly my cave-man German came into play and I must have said something like "me want marry, must go consulate". Finally I showed them my passport and they let me in. When I got in they checked me for weapons and then confiscated my cell phone and camera. A woman escorted me into a room and I sat down at a table. No one was speaking English with me, so I tried in my cave-man German to tell them what I needed: a Konsularische Ledigkeitsbescheinigung. What?! I couldn't even say it. Finally I just said "Ich will heiraten" (I want to get married). The woman said "congratulations!" and switched to English (thank you!).

They asked me for my address in the U.S. and in Germany, my father and mother's names, and then they printed me out a paper in German and English saying that I am single.

So, my little adventure went smoothly. I even got to have some McDonald's at the train station before I left.

Soon I will have to post a blog about how to marry a German in Germany. But first I have to finish figuring it out myself.

In other news, our kitchen was installed in our apartment! It looks really nice. Today Mike and I went over and cooked a meal there, even though we didn't have any chairs to sit on since we haven't bought any yet. I am really excited to move in. I just wish I could wiggle my nose like Jeannie and make all the heavy furniture in our apartment here suddenly appear in the new one. We probably can't afford movers, and besides, I don't know who would want to carry all of this already assembled furniture down from the top floor of our apartment. Atleast our new one is on the first floor.

And for fun, here is Penny. I know you all want to see another hundred photos of my cat, right? She is excited about the new apartment as well.

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