The Heymann Family Journal

I was thinking about my green house. What can I use for a green house. Then I thought about bubble wrap. Has anyone ever used bubble wrap for green houses? So I did a web search. And people do use it. Mostly for insulation in glass houses. People also build green houses with plastic bottles. So maybe we could also think about doing that? But plastic bottles have a high deposit in Germany, so cost is a factor. Here are some photos. Maybe I can use straw bale for the bottom of the green house and plastic bottles for the top of the green house. Just an idea.

We got some snow over night. It wasn't much, but it looks pretty. Juergen will show the house again tonight. But he is so anxious to sell it, I'm afraid he will give it away at a steep loss. I just have to pray God will protect us in this process. Someone at SAP already replied to Juergen's rental ad. Perhaps it will go in that direction? It's hard to know what is best? Our Father in Heaven Holy is your name, Your kingdom come, your will be done... I spent a good part of the morning studying the book of James. James seemed more concerned that we not sin when we go through trials, and less concerned that God remove us from our trials. It is the trails that help produce our good character. I believe God is very concerned with the process. He is not poor...and his hands are not short that they can not save. How we deal with these issues, united and not divided, respecting one another, with faith and trust. This is the issue, not weather a house sells or rents...

“Success always comes when preparation meets opportunity” -Henry Hartman

Juergen showed the house again. The couple that saw it said that it is the nicest house they have looked at....but it's too big for them. They are just 2 people. It makes me wonder why they wasted our time? The size is clearly advertised. Did they think it would be smaller in person? But the complement encouraged Juergen. I'm happy about that. I'm going to try to take new photo's tomorrow morning. We have done so much over the past week. It does start to look pretty good. I guess the family that finally gets it will be blessed. Renter, buyer...I don't really care anymore. Just as long as they make themselves known soon!

It's Monday, and I spilled my coffee. After a very hard week, I'm hoping this isn't a sign of another bad week ahead. Some days You just want to go back to bed and forget the whole thing. It's cold out side. They say it's going to get very very cold this week. And I hate that! But it's only a few weeks until spring. So instead of hiding away, I need to move forward with the work I have. I cleaned the kitchen, did some laundry and began thinking about the book of James. I will be teaching an English Bible study starting Feb 10th. I'm also starting to organize the Alpha Course in English. That begins March 14th. Juergen shows the house again this after noon. I personally have given up hope that we will sell the house. I have accepted the idea of renting it out. Juergen posted an ad at SAP to rent the house out March 1st. In the mean time, we have hand workers coming to fix things. Someone will paint the stairwell. The heater guy will check th...

As you know, we have this super party tent I bought on eBay for my 50th birthday party. It is 5 meters wide and 8 meters long. The frame is a very good metal. It would be very solid if I dug the posts into the soil, or set them in concrete. The sides of the tent already let in light, it's the top that is the problem. Maybe I could cut large pieces from the top of the tent, and replace those pieces with clear green house plastic? I want to heat the whole thing with a rocket stove. Maybe I could build one or two walls from straw bale to increase the biomass. What ideas do you have? I’m anxious to have a green house. It would be a great time to start my seeds.

Juergen worked all day at the old house. This is after working every night there after work. My poor sweetheart is so tired! And he showed the house to 3 different families. It was too big for all of them. 2 families had no children, and one had a baby. It has 5 bedrooms, why do they look at all? And Sarah had a 2 hour cry over cleaning her bedroom. I think the cry had more to do with Juergen being gone all the time. We are feeling a little beaten up. I'm sure it will be OK, but it's hard not to feel discouraged. Part of this is just being too tired. "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. " Proverbs 13:12 We are feeling the pain of a sick heart, but still hoping for the tree of life. I hope it all get’s resolved soon. And for tonight, that we can rest. Everything looks dark when you are too tired!

I was looking around at houses. Juergen shows our house in Leimen 3 times today. Anyway, I found this nice looking house in Bad Schönborn for sale. I don't know where it is in relation to us. But it looks like it has great potential. Maybe you could even talk them down on the price? But 305,000 Euro for a single family house with over 700m² garden is pretty good. It looks like it's in pretty good shape. I have not seen it, so I couldn't say for sure. But it looks pretty nice. http://www.immo-aktiv.de/index.php?cmd=object&id=200

Sadly most of the people that want our house in Leimen really can not afford our house. They ask what the bottom price is, and they want us to go down 20,000 Euros more. We have the house listed at a price where we will lose 11,000 euro already. I showed the house to a very nice family today. But they complained that the house had no fireplace. Sure it would be nice to have a fire place. It would be lovely. I want a fireplace in my new house too...but I'm not dropping the price another 20,000 Euro so you can have your dream house. The idea of renting is growing on me. There are about 3 houses for rent in all of Leimen (over 20,000 people). I'm sure we would be able to rent it out very fast. And then we would not be looking at a big loss...instead we would be looking at a small gain. I don't like carrying the risk of the loan, but perhaps the small risk out weighs the sure loss. We show the house again on Saturday and Monday. Maybe it will sell? But I'm ge...

Good news, bad news. We just got an offer on our house in Leimen. They offered us our price. That's the good news. The bad news is they want to pay us part of the price “under the table”, so they don't have to pay the notary so much money. You need to pay taxes and fees that are about 5% of the total cost of the house. That's a no go with us. Where do they find these people? Lord help us! There is no way I’ll sell my house to the mob!!! This is a test....this is only a test!

Nicole and I continued to renovate the Leimen house today. We bought wallpaper for Nicole’s old bedroom and Jessica’s bedroom. Nicole's room was painted a strong red, Jessica had a tropical photo wallpaper. We are covering those walls, and painting everything white. Nicole cut the wallpaper , getting it ready to hang. And I painted the guest toilet a very pretty Tuscan yellow. We didn't have much time. Nicole has to go to school, and the other kids will be coming home from school. But we did what we could. I'll probably continue the work tonight. We also plan to work tomorrow morning. Jurgen has someone coming tomorrow to refinish the wood floor in the living room. We won't be able to walk on it for a few days, but it will look awesome. There is also someone coming on Saturday to replace the door, and door frame in the boy's old bedroom. They broke the door frame fighting with each other. I thank God boys eventually grow up! I also thank God they now ...

This green house looks like the frame of my tent. This is why I think I can use my tent frame for a green house. And if I had a heated green house, I could start my plants next month. Wouldn't that be wonderful!

I just started to read the book “You lost me”, why young Christians are leaving the church. By David Kinnaman. I have a personal stake in the next generation of Christians. We have 5 children (ages 9-20). I want my kids to adopt my faith. Faith is nothing that can be inherited, it must be adopted by choice. I hope I can live in such a way that they choose to follow Jesus. That’s a great challenge. I am the one that makes them clean their rooms and do their home work. But they know I love them. I just hope they understand God loves them even more. Anyway, it’s a good book. I recommend it. “Some (though not all) ministries have taken cues from the assembly line, doing everything possible to streamline the manufacture of shiny new Jesus followers, fresh from the factory floor. But disciples can not be mass- produced. Disciples are handmade, one relationship at a time.” http://www.amazon.de/You-Lost-Christians-Church-Rethinking/dp/0801013143

Emotionally I'm down. The house has not sold and that is really disheartening. I want to just move forward with other stuff, but the house does effect us. It's not just an emotional effect. It cost us allot of money to pay for 2 houses. The bank isn't being nice, they want their mortgage payment even if we don't live in that house! That hurts. Each month we dish out so much extra money, I could be sending my parents airline tickets every month! That kills me! I want to see my family, but I can not because I'm broke! And we are spending money to fix the house up. Thursday we spend a 1,000 Euro on the floor in the living room. We spend time at the house painting, and wall papering. We may spend another 1000 Euro to put new floors in the bedrooms. We are doing everything we can to make the house more "sellable". It is a buyers market. And people are being so picky! We didn't argue the owners of our house down one cent. We didn't deman...

Happy Birthday to my baby brother Rickey. Miss you! Come and see us soon...ok?

My German friends on Face book and this blog think the cherry wood kitchen looks too old fashion. So I bid on this white IKEA kitchen instead. It sells Sunday afternoon. What's nice about IKEA is it's so easy to replace any missing or damaged parts of the kitchen. And the eBay kitchen includes most of the appliances (minus the dishwasher). It even has a side by side refrigerator. So if we win the bid, it will be a bright white kitchen. Juergen is painting the inside of the house white today. It's basically going to be a clean canvas for anyone that looks at it. It should look fresher...I hope that helps sell it. At least it will be in shape to move in right away. And if we need to rent the place, it will be ready very soon.

I'm looking at kitchens on eBay. I think we need to put one in our Leimen house if we want to easily rent the place. People often have to put in their own kitchen, but it's easier when they don't need to. And of course it maybe easier to sell if it has a kitchen too. New kitchens are between 7-12 thousand Euro for our small space (even higher of course). But I found this lovely cherry wood kitchen on eBay about 50 km from us. It sells in 2 days. It includes all the appliances. It was originally worth 33,000 euro. It is a very high quality. These are solid cherry wood cabinets. I bet I can get it for 500 Euro. I just need the OK from Juergen. It would need a new countertop. But I think it would look lovely with the terracotta floor. I'm going to buy new wallpaper for the room tomorrow. A nice Tuscan yellow. And maybe if I win the bid on the kitchen, I'll replace the little handles with a nice white porcelain knob. What do you think? Juergen is pain...

I've been very sick over the past week. It's really been a full time effort to recover from this very strong virus. If you would talk to me today, I sound like I have a cold. I do have a cold, but it is much better. Today is the first day I have any energy at all in over a week. And I know I had better be careful not to over do it. I do have good things to report. Juergen found an Autism care center near by, a house where they have 5 autistic adults cared for by 5 caretakers. They actually have a spot for Jessica. She can try the group out next week. This group is very special. They are all trained to help Autistic people specifically. And they don't just manage them, they help them progress in personal life skills. This was our great hope. We did not want Jessica just baby sat. We wanted her to have the opportunity to continue to learn and grow as a person. We wanted her to be in an environment where she could communicate through facilitated communication...

I was so excited this morning because I knew 6 different people had an appointment to see our house in Leimen. 6 different people! Juergen was to meet this crowd between 11:30-12:30. But The first couple didn't show up. The others were looking for investment property. They wanted a dirt cheap price, and they wanted it in top condition...ready to move in. We would need to put in a new kitchen, paint the inside of the house, and redo the living room floor. We may end up doing all that work, so we can rent the place. And my great hope melts. I feel kicked! I had a good feeling about that family that did not show up. Maybe they had a reason? Maybe they will see it on another time? They seemed perfect. We may need to repaint and wallpaper the old house. I’ve already started to look at 2nd hand kitchens on eBay. We will probably need to get the floor done & put in a new heater? I have an awful cold. I can not get out to shop for food. I'm really very sick. But I...

I was reading Jon Huntsman’s FB page. People like me are sad, and mad that he is getting out and endorsing Romney. One person asked if he got offered Secretary of State in Romney’s cabinet? I don’t like Romney, but I do like the folks that are kissing up to him. Chris Christy as the VP, Huntsman as Secretary of State. I personally think Romney will lose to Obama. But if he wins, at least he will have a good team. Too bad he would be the leader. That’s politics!

I got 2 phone calls today about the house. Juergen is showing it 2 times during his lunch break tomorrow. It would be such a gift if we could sell it. We will have to rent it out, maybe even next month if we can not sell it. We just don't have the money to keep paying for 2 houses. I watched a You Tube video about prayer. It's funny how things happen when we pray, and they do not happen when we don't.

Tanz 1 - TEN SING life’n’rhythm Seminar 2012... von tensingfanclub_de

Juergen listed our house in the Heidelberg paper. It cost 60€ for one small add. And we had hoped our phone would be ringing off the hook, but no. Not one phone call all day. And we are really trying not to be discouraged. I'm praying and waiting. I really feel like we were suppose to be here. I love my new house. But the money is really getting tight. I'm wondering how we can keep paying for 2 houses? We will need to rent soon, and that is not what we had hopped for. But as long as I keep going back to God and asking “ was this your will”....and I keep feeling his peace that it really was, I will just have to believe he knows what we need. He does not lead us into a desert just to have us die. He is our bread. Please pray with us for an answer. We are running out of money, and I feel a little foolish.

Enough politics. It seems my party has agreed to nominate Romney no matter what. That is what they all are saying. It makes me so sad. I hope they don’t do this, and if they do I think Obama will win. So America is in very sad shape with little hope. But I’m either going to forget about it, or just drive myself mad. I guess I’ll just forget about it. You are all probably glad about that. I hear your Amen’s! Good news. Jessica may be allowed to go a disabled workshop in Wiesloch. She did an internship there last year, and she enjoyed it. But we live in another district, and they didn’t have space for her Now they have space. We would need the funding approved and we will also need a new private teacher. Maybe her old teacher? Probably not because they are both already working with new students. But chances of getting a good teacher are better in the Heidelberg area.

How can this man be doing as well as he is doing? Are people asleep?

Huntsman's Ideas Deserved a Bigger Run

http://www.webcasts.com/kingofbain/ This is the 28 min film on the business practices of Romney. This will not help the man's election... but who knows.

a Boston Globe story that ran during Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign that detailed a Romney-family road trip 25 years ago. Before embarking on the annual drive from Boston to the family’s cabin in Ontario, Canada, Romney apparently strapped the dog carrier, with family dog Seamus inside, to the roof of his car for the duration of the 12-hour drive. Seamus, an Irish setter, retaliated for the less-than-ideal placement by going to the bathroom on the roof and down the back window of the family’s station wagon. The story outraged animal activists and pet owners, landing Romney in hot water during his last bid for the White House.

I listened to Romneys victory speech in NH. He sounded like he did some kind of poll on the words and phrases that effect people. He knew what Republicans want to hear. Those were the words , phrases and promises he used in his speech. For example "We will always stand with our friend Israel". It did not hold any real conviction...just good marketing. A University class should try picking the speech apart for content. It's purr propaganda. But it will be effective, sadly it will win him the nomination. I do not think he can be stopped. As they say, it's his to lose. And if a term like "your so Bain" will not bring him down, I don't think anything will. I personally don't like how he puts Europe down so much. What about we will always stand with our friends? He bashed Europe! He kept saying, we don't want to become like the failed Europe. I personally would rather live in Germany then America because the government does a much better j...

This is Jon Huntsman Sr. the father of Jon huntsmann who is running for President. I'm so impressed with him. He wrote a book called "winner's never cheat". It sounds like a good book to read. It's the Loop holes that are killing us. I am looking for a person to back as President. I think the more I look at Jon Huntsman Jr, the more I like him. With integrity nothing else counts, without integrity nothing else counts. — Winston Churchill

Jon Huntsman & Newt Gingrich - Lincoln-Douglas Debate - #LDdebate I watched the whole thing. It was very good. It makes me see that both these men have some brains. I want to know more about Huntsman's record as a governor of Utah, and his domestic ideas. I like Gingrich, but I think he has too much baggage to get elected. But Huntsman seems like an honest conservative. He adopted a girl from China and another from India. That is very special to me! He has experience over seas, and experience as a governor. I'm pretty sure being President is too hard for a Senator or Congressman (women). It requires management skills. Governors have an advantage in management. The real problem I have with Romney is he seems to lack depth, and sincerity. Huntsman seems very timid, but he is also very believable. I do not trust Romney. He reminds me of a used car sales man. I don’t trust Romney. If he is the candidate for the GOP, I really don’t know what I’ll do. Maybe ju...

I'm keeping my eye on the race in NH. I'm also hoping Huntsman does well. I don't know much about him, but he seems like a good man. He adopted 2 kids. I have to love a family that has adopted from China! Maybe Gingrich and Romney will basically disqualify each other, and a person like Huntsman can actually have a chance? I need to look deeper…maybe I’ll get behind him. But he needs to do well today.

Brown Leg Horn Chickens -- powered by ehow

The kids went back to school today. Thomas began going to his new school ( it's a local school). I'm looking forward to hearing about his day. I hope it was good. Juergen and Nicole both stayed home, sick. They go to the Dr this after noon. Juergen saw the Dr last week, but his cough has gotten worse. He coughed all night. Poor man. Maybe he will get antibiotics this time. Nicole's throat is pretty sore. She can hardly speak. It is usually me with the sore throat. I do have a cold, but so far it is staying in my head. Poor Jessica is also sick. At least she is smart enough to stay in bed and sleep. It's raining outside. I see no good reason to get out. I'm just reading and drinking tea, and keeping warm. I don’t feel any great need to get things done! I need to take the Christmas stuff down. But that can wait a few more days. I got the Bible study workbook I want to use for my small group. I can already tell it was written for women. I think I...

Well, our 2 week vacation is almost over. I didn't do much. I guess that was my goal. I can not tell you how tired I was. Very tired, and stressed. So I resisted the urge to clean, paint, and unpack. Instead I slept, and read. I watched you tube videos about gardening. I was careful not to open my calendar. I did not want to brain storm on 2012. No, that could wait until I was rested. And I have a cold, but I feel much better. I think I'll get much more done now, because I can dream and think, and move with out feeling exhausted. Sure, I wish I had one more week off, but I thank God for giving us this rest. The kids start back to school on Monday. Thomas will begin at a new school. We will see how that goes. And I guess I’ll pull the calendar out and start to plan. I do think it will be good. I also watched allot of God TV. I seem to be very drawn to “End Times” studies. You may think that would make a person depressed. Actually, looking at the news makes...

Watch The Long March of Newt Gingrich on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE. This is very interesting on Newt Gingrich. I always knew he was an immoral jerk. But Clinton is also a jerk, and I'm sure the country would elect him again (if they could) because he balanced the budget with Newt. So the question is do we hire a guy that was a real jerk, but can actually get the job done...or hire someone else (who might be a jerk, if we knew the truth) but can not get the job done? I'm not sure I believe anyone in power. They all have dirty hands (sad). I agree with the state that puts people to work, and does not just provide welfare. We know Newts faults, but we also know he gave us a balanced budget...and we have not had that since then. And the debt we are in is immoral! There is such a sad lack of leadership in government. And what is even sadder is the gross amount of money it takes to win an election. Obama made that worse by not honoring the rules of finance refor...

I'm looking for a good idea for using pallets for raised garden beds. Pallets are free or almost free untreated wood. You don't want to use treated wood in a vegetable garden. Juergen likes the idea of using pallets because they are easy to work with and cheep. I'm wondering if we can make the frames of the high raised beds from pallets, and the inside of the beds can be lined with a plywood or a heavy plastic? If you can use them for compost, you should be able to build high raised beds with them! Maybe you'll need some extra wood for support, especially if you plan on making long beds. But I want high raised beds so I do not need to bend down when I'm gardening. we will need to spray paint the outside of the beds to look nice. I still care that it looks nice! Maybe we can even use the vertical garden idea and plant the out side of some of our raised beds. We could grow our strawberries and herbs on the out side of the beds. That would look cool!

looking at 2008, Huckabee won Iowa, McCain won NH, and we really didn't start to see McCain gain ground until Florida and South Carolina. I'm not happy with Romney. I'm guessing the person that wins South Carolina and Florida will be running agents Obama in the fall.

I got a package today from Thailand. It had seeds I ordered on eBay. Chinese Kale, Bak Choy, Chinese cabbage, long beans, Jumbo cucumbers, and sweet peas. All non hybrid seeds of course! I also got 3 kinds of tomato seeds in the mail (Roma, Red giant, and Long Willi a long yellow variety). I'm looking forward to the spring and summer! I'm not sure what to do for the next few days. I don't want to get allot done...I just want to rest. I need to clean the kitchen, do laundry and vacuum the floors. But after that, I have no great ambition. Maybe I'll take Jessica on some drives to pick up glass jars I find being given away? I want to collect 1000 jars to fill this year. Sounds a bit crazy, but it takes allot of food to feed a family of 7. My mom said she grew 100 tomato plants, and filled about a 1000 jars per year with vegetables and fruit. I loved her apple sauce and peaches. Juergen will show the house in Leimen to a private family today. They seem ...

Maybe I can have some of these things made for me? What a cool and simple way to build a garden bed. Juergen would like this! You can buy them in America. But I can probably get someone to make them for me here in Germany.

I just watched a news story about a soldier wrapped in a big box that his son opened for Christmas. It reminded me of the time I brought my daughter Jessica to Oregon to visit my parents. I spent one week in San Diego first. I showed lots of photo's of Nicole and I on my blog, but none of Jessica. They had no idea Jessica was with me. And when I came, they could not have been more surprised. Have you ever pulled off a good surprise? Juergen took the kids to camp. They will be gone for a week. Philip and Thomas will do a dance workshop, and Nicole is in a song writing workshop. Juergen and I will try to just rest. We will take Sarah and Jessica a few places, but mostly the plan is to rest. Our house guests have also gone home. It’s all so peaceful now!

I'm teaching Sarah to Crochet. I only know the basics, so I can not teach her much. But she made a friendship bracelet.

At midnight we went outside to shoot off fireworks. And as everyone was outside, I set the table with birthday gifts & cake for Philip. He has a January 1st birthday. His birthday was given to him by Thailand. We don't really know anything about his birth (not even the date). But he is now 14 years old. He wanted cloths, so this is what I gave him. And he wanted a coconut cake. So he got that too. And he and Thomas did some break dancing for us. His best friend spent the night. We will probably do a bigger party in a few weeks. Probably a bowling party because that's easy. We didn't get to be until around 3am. I've been sleepy all day. We have house guests. It's been pretty low key. Happy New Year everyone.