Not much new going on but I thought I'd just post a little note to bring my blog readers up to speed on any developments in my life. I am still working at the periodontics office in Chesapeake. Paul & I still live in our little one bedroom apartment, we are longing to own a home someday. The first year of our marriage has just flown by... I am amazed it has been that long already, even though a year really isn't that long. I love Paul more today than ever, marriage is great if you're with the one you are to be with! He has to travel on occasion for work and when he does I miss him tons. Healthwise I still have yet to figure out why I get dizziness from time to time. I have had a lot of tests, one more to re-do in a few weeks. I keep hoping & praying it all gets better! I was able to start taking only half of my blood pressure meds per day and it seems like I have been feeling better since doing that, so I really hope that is all it was. I have been trying to re-learn how to sew and am working on making a dress. If I ever get time to get it done I'll post pictures up here! Well, that is about it for now, I am just trying to get to be a better blogger & put more up here!

Story of us Part 6.

After a few months of dating we grew closer & more in love with eachother. We both felt that God had put us together & we were happy! We got engaged July 8th, 2007. Paul had a big party up at his parents house. Over 100 people were there to celebrate the One year anniversary of his accident. It was a great day. I kept thinking all day he was going to ask me to marry him at the party, he didn't. There had been many times all that weekend I thought the proposal was coming, and when we were headed back down to Wooster for him to take me home, I figured it was going to happen some other weekend. We got down to my place around 11. Paul planned to sleep down there since it was so late and so I got my things ready for Mondays work & prepared to go to bed. I got done getting ready & went out to the living room to say goodnight. Paul had opened to bottles of Labatt Blue beer and was just kinda standing there smirking a little. I was suprised as I was tired & ready to go to bed, but thought if he wanted to have a drink we could stay up a bit later. He hugged me first & asked me if I had a good day. I said I had, he then said he figured he could do one thing to make a good day even better, and he pulled out the ring box & asked me to marry him! Of course I said yes! (after I asked "are you serious? yes!). He said he wanted it to be more romantic with champagne, but the beer was all we had at my place. But I think it was a cute proposal & I did say yes, didn't I!!!













A few weeks after we got engaged Paul moved to Virginia to work for CBN. Paul's parents & I helped him move down. The next few months apart were lonely & sometimes hard, but I was very busy with wedding planning. We set a date for early October. I was busy picking out cakes, lining up the venue, deciding on food, tables, etc. I was making decorations. It was a bit stressful on the budget that we had, but we did it! We had our rehearsal at Coccia House restaurant the night before. It was fun & a great evening before our big day!



October 6th, 2007 Paul Charles Janssen & Caroline Ann Kempf were married. We had a decent sized bridal party. Maid of Honor - Hannah Kempf. Bridesmaids - Helena Falk, Kristin Hershberger, Jenna Janssen, Sonia Spires. Best Man - Dan Janssen. Groomsmen - Matt Brazofsky, Joshua Booth, Chad Kohler, Justin Harris. Our ringbearer was Alex Mast and our flowergirl Kayla Willoughby. We had Natalie Kohler do the guestbook. Musicians Ryan Conrad & Richard Jordan. Paul's father Charles Janssen officiated & my father Greg Kempf walked me down the aisle. Our mothers Shelley Janssen & Catherine Kempf light the unity candles. It was a beautiful day. We had our wedding at a friend David Kearns-Preston's church in Orrville, Ohio. Our wedding reception was at the Carlisle Village Inn, Walnut Creek, Ohio. The bridal party rode their by limo, drinking champaign all the way!
We spent our first night as husband & wife in a beautiful room at the Inn. We then flew the next day to Norfolk, VA, got in our car & drove to First Colonial Inn, Nags Head, NC. for our honeymoon. We had a great time!
In a week & a half we will have been married one year! It is hard to believe how fast the time has flown. I love Paul so much, he is a great husband & love of my life!

Story of us part 5..

Continued....

I have been a horrible blogger, but here is another installment of the story of Paul & I. So the winter weekend drew to a close. Paul & I had talked and gotten to know eachother a lot by the end of it. We ended up sitting together on the long bus ride home & talked even more. He ended up grabbing my hand and holding it (he also snuck a kiss when no one was looking). I knew then he really did have interest in me. He also hooked me up with his phone number & took mine. I wasn't really sure when he would call or if this was just for the weekend kind of romance on his part, but I wanted to take the risk. When we got back to the church he needed to leave soon as his family was waiting for him. He asked me to walk back in the church with him & while there said a prayer for me & I prayed for him. I swear his eyes looked teary saying goodbye. Then since we had a prior silly conversation about stuffed animals he reached into his bag & pulled out a really cute stuffed lion. He told me that he was one of his from when he was in the hospital and thought he'd share. I got home, Ashley came home with me & spent the night. We caught up on the events of the trip. In the morning when taking her home by car broke down. Dad & I spent a taxing day of trying to get it fixed. When we were just finishing up I got a call from Paul! I was so happy & also a bit suprised. I beleive after that phone call we talked every day but one! It was shocking to me as usually guys I had dated in the past never called much. It seemed he couldn't get enough of me or me of him. We emailed, texted, spoke on the phone daily. A few weeks after getting home I was about to get a promotion at work and told Paul of it. The next day I got a delivery of 12 red roses! I had never gotten many flowers & was so surprised!

I was still kind of keeping things about Paul & I quiet, less to deal with if it ended. But I had talked with the girls at work & they were all so happy for me. I took the flowers home to enjoy. That Sunday after church I had a few friends over, Chad saw the flowers and asked me about them. I just said that Paul sent them as a congratulatory thing for a new position at my work. Chad reminded me that a dozen red roses doesn't say congrats typically. I knew that deep down!
To be continued...............

The story of us part 4...

Continued.......

So the day of the Four 14 Smokey Mountain Hike trip came, I arrived at the church to see Paul there. I wasn't sure whether to go up to him & start talking or to play it cool. So I went and stood by a friend (who was standing near Paul), casually said hi to him and made a tiny bit of small talk. I wanted so badly to sit with him on the bus ride down, but when we got on one of the guys (Keith) wanted Paul to sit back with him, so I ended up with Sonia a few rows ahead. A little ways into the trip I heard someone call my name. Turned around & Paul was holding up a bag of sour gummy worms. We had talked about them in e-mails & he knew I love them. He said "I have some gummy worms if you want some". I told him I would in a little bit, my plan being to go on back to where he was and get them & hopefully talk a little. I kept thinking if we didn't talk on the first day it may get awkward and we may not end up talking at all. So I did go back in a bit & sit in the empty seat nearby and have some gummy worms. I guess Keith was telling Paul that he better be careful letting me have any as I love them & may eat all of them. Paul told Keith that would be fine, as he brought them for me. Guess it suprised Keith a little. By this point Sonia had known we were emailing, but no one else really did. (I guess my bible study girls & girls at work, but not many from church). Keith fell asleep in the seat next to Paul & Sonia was sleeping as well, so I sat back by Paul & we talked for hours. We spent all the time we could on the hike together & talked all weekend. There are so many little moments & things that happened where I wondered if he had feelings for me as well, but I didn't want to get my hopes up.

To be continued.........

The story of us..part 3

Continued.......

So I end up at the same New Years eve party as Paul Janssen. We all play some games together, starting with Apples to Apples. I think he is still very cute, so I help him by picking his card whenever I could without being obvious (yes I cheated). I also didn't play the "coma" card. There was a card that said coma on it and in interest of not hurting his feelings or bringing up his accident I exchanged it for a different card. Later to find out he would have thought it was funny! After playing some games we drank some wine & watched the new year come in. People started leaving, some started watching a movie. Sonia & I started talking more with Paul Janssen. Somehow it morphed from several of us talking to Paul & I talking. I thought he'd pull away soon & watch the movie, but he told me he didn't like it much (Nacho Libre) and we kept talking. I found out he was going on the Four 14 winter hike in two weeks in NC, which made me more excited to go on the trip. Later after Sonia & I got back to my apartment (she was staying overnight) we tried to watch another movie, but I kept thinking of Paul. New Years day I woke up with the thought that I wished I could email him or something (I knew he had a Myspace account). But that this time I wanted the guy to make the first move (and I didn't have internet available to use on a holiday). But in a few hours I checked my email via my cell phone & saw that I had a Myspace message from Paul! He told me that it was nice meeting me, to have another single person to talk to on New Years, that he has been "Myspace" friends with several other Four 14 people and that is how he found me (yeah right, he searched for me!). Anyways, keeping it to ourselves, Paul & I emailed back & forth until 2 weeks later when we went on the winter hike..........

To be continued.....

Story of us part 2.

continued......

So a few months and a few bad dates later found me still single around New Years. My friend Kristin had come home for a visit from FL & we spent the time between Christmas & New Years hanging out. Hanging out & hoping to meet new guys that would be the ones for us. Yes, we had pretty strong ideas of what we were looking to do in two weeks time. We had a talk late on night about how we were getting very tired of always trying to be what the guys we dated wanted us to be. You see I tried very hard to mantain my values, but would try to be what I thought the guys I was interested in would want, often not really being myself. We decided that would would be real from the get-go and if the next guys we dated didn't like us, then whatever, we wouldn't care or change. They could go. On New Years eve we'd planned to go to a thing at Four 14 for a little, then to Kohlers New Years eve party, then to a club & dance the New Year in. Then New Years Eve day came & Kristin was in great pain from having had her wisdom teeth taken out a few days prior (they had been better & got worse). Anyhow, so that left me trying to figure out my evening. I sent messages to a few friends, none where available. So I decided to stay longer at Four 14 & go to the party at Kohlers. I was rather sad about not going out to the club with Kristin. Kept thinking if I always go the same places I will never meet anyone ( even though I knew I really didn't want to meet a guy at a club). So I get to church and after a bit see Paul Janssen walking around with Natalie & Chad. I had heard he was out of the hospital but didn't expect him to be there on New Years Eve. I was suddenly feeling more hopeful about the evening & even more hopeful when Kohlers asked me to sit with them & I found out Paul was going to their party.

To be continued........

The story of us................

Yesterday, July 8th, 2008 was our one year anniversary of our engagement. They say the older you get the faster time goes by and I am starting to believe that.

I was reminising about our relationship the other day and got to thinking that I really want to write it down, so as time goes by & details become fuzzy I can look at it and be reminded of all the moments.

So the very beginning is where I will start. It is the best place to start a story anyways.

It was the spring of 2006, I was living in Wooster, attending Four 14 at Grace Brethren on Sunday nights. I was attending church at Wooster Bible Church on Sunday mornings. My friend Ruth & I would attend church, eat lunch & hunt for fun things to spend our weekends doing. This particular Sunday we ended up going for a drive in the country after church, taking some photos. In the evening we attended Four 14. Richard Jordan had come up from Columbus to lead worship, he is a wonderful singer/guitar player & a great encouraging friend so it was good to see him. A bunch of us decided to go out afterwards to Longhorn Steakhouse. We got to Longhorn and I noticed a "New Guy". He was with my good friends Natalie (former roommate) and her husband Chad. We ended up stitting close to eachother at the table. I was intrigued by him & we started talking about photography. He told me that he was planning on going on a mission trip to Russia later in the year & that was also of interst to me as I have wanted to go to Russia or Ukraine for years now. We seemed to hit it off pretty well, but when I mentioned to a friend after the evening was over that I thought he was cute & was interested she reminded me that he had just gone through a divorce and that while he may be a great guy I shouldn't make any moves towards him. I didn't, but the way things worked out I didn't have a choice. I went to a fourth of July party at a friends house a few months later. At that party Natalie & Chad shared a prayer request for their friend Paul Janssen (the guy from Longhorn). He had been a terrible car accident July 2nd they said. Chad spoke of going to see him at the hospital. Chad always kept our group informed of Paul & when a benefit concert was planned at the Beachland Ballroom they got a small group together to go. I went to this to help support him.

To be continued.............................

Tree of life.

Please pray for Paul & his family.

Paul's grandfather Paul Adams passed away this morning. I ask that you pray that God comfort his wife & children & grandchildren in this time. I didn't get to know him that well, but the times I did get to talk to him I enjoyed. At Paul's one year anniversary of his accident party last summer (we got engaged that evening) I was kinda of sad as Paul was about to move to VA and of course I didn't know Paul was about to ask me to marry him. Anyhow all that to say is Paul's grandpa Adams came up to me and said something along the lines of "Even though Paul is moving, I am sure you'll still see a lot of him". He was so cute when he said that, and it gave me such encouragement. I thank the Lord that he knew Jesus and will be in heaven.

My summer indoors

I am wishing to be outside, to lay by the pool, go to the beach, walk. But the area has had a lot of smoke. So we have been staying inside a lot. See below post for reason of the smoke. I just thank God we are far enough away for it not to affect us much except for the air.

Fires along the edge of VA & NC.

Thick smoke from two large fires in North Carolina and Virginia traveled up the East Coast in mid-June 2008, affecting air quality in numerous cities and towns, including the nation’s capital. The Evans Road Fire had burned over 41,000 acres of the Pocosin National Wildlife Refuge as of Sunday, June 15, while the South 1 Fire in the Great Dismal Swamp had burned about 1,500 acres.
This natural-color image of Virginia and North Carolina was captured by the MODIS on NASA's Aqua satellite on Saturday, June 14, 2008. Places where the sensor detected actively burning fires are outlined in red. Smoke billows out over the sounds that separate mainland North Carolina from the islands known as the Outer Banks. (The large version of the image shows smoke spreading far up the eastern seaboard.) The washed-out appearance of the coastal waters is due to sunglint, the mirror-like reflection of sunlight into the sensor's "eye."
The Evans Road Fire was started by lightning on June 2, while the South 1 Fire appears to have been sparked by machines removing trees downed by Hurricane Isabel. According to local news reports, the fire in the Great Dismal Swamp is a great setback for refuge managers who were trying to clear and restore habitat for eastern white cedar trees. Historically, white cedars were abundant in the swamp, but they have been replaced by other species because of logging and other human land use impacts.
Both fires have the potential to generate lots of smoke because swamps have thick layers of peat—partially decayed vegetation that accumulates in soggy environments. When peat does dry out, it can fuel stubborn fires that smolder for months.

My Husband.

I am missing Paul as he has been in Ohio all week. So I decided to do a whole post about him!

I am so proud of him. He is working for CBN here in VA and this week they flew him, Justin (A fellow editor/shooter) and Amy (a producer) up to Ohio to do three stories. One I am not sure what it was about, but the other one is about my Dad's dear friend Sam Bender. Sam got the sports chaplancy program started in the states. He is a wonderful, energetic, and faithful 83 year old man of God. He has never had any stories done about him, so it is a blessing for Paul to be doing one to honor Sam's work. The last Ohio story being worked on this week is Pauls. For updates on it check out Paul's blog at http://film8622.blogspot.com/. My husbands story is amazing and I am proud of him for all he has gone through & overcome and how he is a stronger man of God because of it. He is a great husband & I thank God for his love & support and all he is to me.

How do we view things?

I watched the movie mona lisa smile today. I had seen it before, and didn't remember much about it. Today it seemed very thought inspiring to me. Maybe it was the point of the movie or maybe it was the mood I was in while watching it but here is what I got to thinking about during and after the movie:
There is a scene in the movie in which she shows her group of girls she is teaching (girls who think they've got it all, know it all and have nothing to learn) a painting she made for her mother as a child, a simple painting of a cow. She then said that it was art. Then she showed a picture of her mother, and said that too was art. The girls all disagreeded so she asked "If Ansel Adams had taken the picture, would you say it is art then?". This question got me thinking, who deems what art is? It kind of goes along with the phrase "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Who determines what beauty is? Who determines what we should view as valuable?

I think the point of the movie was to show that she got the girls to try and think for themselves. Even now in "real life" we have so many voices telling us how to think, how to live. Trying if you will to tell us what art is, what beauty is. Rather then encouraging us to create, to be confident, to learn to be ourselves. I love fashion, fashion magazines, cosmo and such magazines as much as the next girl, but we should never allow them to guide us in how to live, or make us feel less for not being "beautiful" in the sense that the people in them are. Everyone has beauty, just in different ways and we should learn to embrace that. I fail at that all the time, allowing media, movies, other girls to make me feel less. I want to try and be who God has created me to be and to learn to think for myself so to speak and not be so influenced by others. Just by God!

So next time you see a piece of art, rather then liking or disliking it by some standard out there, look at it with open eyes and judge it for yourself. Next time you look at yourself, don't go by others opinions..... remember God has made you and rejoice in it!

Tired

I am very tired and not at all in the mood to work today, so I am dragging my feet with getting ready & adding some rambling to my blog. I think some of my tiredness today stems from my headache, aching back & legs. I pray God heals my back. But regardless of my aches & pains and general Friday tiredness, I am reminded of Gods promise in Isaiah to renew our strength. I guess the encouragement to me and that I want to share is that even though we grow tired & weary, God will lift us up & give us the strength & energy to do what we need to do & what he has for us to do. I was looking at a picture on my computer this morning that I took this past spring.....

and then even though those aren't real birds or even eagles, reminded of that verse. Take God's promises to heart, as I am trying to learn to do as well. Caroline

My Family!




I feel as though I am a terrible blogger. I started this one in March, and look at how many great posts I have on it. I was inspired today though by other friends blogs and decided to try harder to make this a good blog. I was looking at the above photo the other day and overcome with how much I love my family & how great they all are. In the above photo Is right to left: My sister, Hannah, Dad, Mom, Great Aunt Esther & Edith.
Gr Aunt Esther and friend Edith came to visit my parents over Memorial Day as did my sister, who lives in Brookyln. Paul & I also came home for Memorial Day and stayed up at the Janssens. It was a fabulous trip home. Not only did we see my family, but also the guests visiting them. The E's (as lovingly referred to by friends & family) came in from England. Anyhow, back to how cool my family is, they just are amazing. Dad has done amazing art for years now and has recently been commissioned to do yet another amazing project. He was so excited telling me about the newest developments. Mom works in Customer Service related work, much like myself & deals with people and their various moods on a daily basis. But just seeing them reminded me that no matter what, through thick & thin, their neverending love for eachother & how much they enjoy their own company. Hannah is also a great person, phenomenal photographer....Paul & I get so jealous of her ability. She works at a coffee house, The Verb in a trendy NYC neighborhood. She travels a lot and inspires me in that & with her art. Well, enough said..... I have a fabulous family & Love them all very much.
For updates on my husband Paul (who I also adore & love) check out his blog....http://film8622.blogspot.com/,
Caroline

I have never done a blog before. Can't promise it will always be intelligent, but I will try my best to make it interesting.