What's in a name? That which we call a rose...

It's been on my mind lately. And by lately I mean the last 6 years. The topic I'm talking about is my name. My almost 3 years running new full name. If you haven't noticed, my name rhymes. (no but for real, if you haven't noticed by now, you probably should just stop reading, lol) Also- might I add for those anonymous reader's that haven't figured it out by now- my parent's DO love me and did not give me a rhyming name.

No, that was love's fault.

I'll be honest- It's not alway's easy being Kristin Piston. That makes me laugh just saying it.  Making phone calls, appointments, meeting new people, it's always interesting to see their face or hear their voice after I say " Hi, I'm Kristin Piston" . People on the phone think that I just said one name twice so they ask "okay but what is your first name?" to which I reply " Kristin... yes it rhymes, you heard correctly"  then depending on the type of person I either get a chuckle on the other end, an "oh.... okay....." sympathetically, or my favorite " WOW, were you born with that one?!"

I will say though that Kristin Shuler was an easily forgettable name. Kristin Piston on the other hand? Hardly. Sometimes I struggle with feeling like my identify has been robbed of me because I am no longer Kristin Shuler- the girl I have been all my life until almost 3 years ago. It is a strange feeling.  Before we got married I contemplated making a shorter/nickname version of my name before we moved to to Kansas since no one knew us anyways. I was thinking Kris Piston or Joy Piston (my middle name). But finally I just decided that was stupid and I'd toughen up and deal with the hilarity of my name. But for real- I have chosen to deal with this for the rest of my life! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the last name Piston. It is unique and so strong. Unfortunately it just goes TOO well with Kristin.  Anyways- I've been feeling like writing about that so I could clear the air just how much I love my rhyming name * cough *.  It's a good thing a name doesnt define or mold my love for Nate!

Here's to 70+ years of being a rhyming legend.

Breathing Deep

another picture post of life lately for the Piston's.

 these bushes bloomed a few weeks ago in our backyard and I just love them. They smell delectable

 Scooter frolicking in a field of wishes

Nate & I were having a particularly rough day a couple weeks ago and I requested that he make a fire so we could just chill, talk, and reflect on life.  The fire would just not stick so I kind of gave up and went inside. But 15 mins or so later I looked back outside & Nate was STILL working on it. That boy doesnt give up on something when he starts.

 He made that fire and he made it well. We had such a great time sitting outside watching the clouds, feeling the breeze and the warm fire.

 Scooter didnt quite know what to think of it. He wouldnt look at the fire at all and just wanted to run inside, ha!

 We got our new basement windows put in! Before they could put our *Egress window in (full size basement window that one can escape out of if necessary) we had to dig this HUGE hole by hand.  In the movies they make grave digging look so easy and effortless. This was nothing like that. It was also not a grave (obviously). but the point is- it was difficult and took about 4 days and many hours and sore muscles to take that dirt out of the ground.

 But now- our window's are in and we are very happy!

 This is a view of the new basement window  from the inside. Its obviously not completed but were getting there!

 Last weekend we drove to Bolivar, MO to visit my brother Richie & sister in law Holly and their adorable baby Jack.

 Jack is seriously adorable. He reminds me of a cabbage patch kid :)

 We got to go with them to get Jack's picture's taken. This set up was my favorite. He was so dang cute in that box! I cant wait to see the real pics.

 I do have to say that this was also the weekend that there were 90 something tornadoes that touched down in Kansas around where we live. I was glued to the computer at Richie's just praying that our friends/my students/ our house/ everything was okay. When we bought our house a couple years ago we knew that it was completely demolished in the tornado of 1990. There was an F5 tornado that tore through our tiny town. google it sometime. or youtube. you will seriously be terrified.

this was our expression of wondering what we'd find at our house when we came back from Richie's.

Have a good rest of April!!

bring on the warm

this is a pretty big picture post of us lately. enjoy

I went to Arkansas to see my nieces/nephew/brother & sister in law

 This was my fortune cookie not too long ago. we thought it was hilarious. and also a really stupid fortune.

 Got to celebrate and shower one of my best friends from JBU- Lisa Fury, soon to be Lisa Smith. Also got to partake in some awesome girl friend time :)

 my nephew, John (Jr.) , is soooo adorable.

 Kaiya is quite the free spirit & super creative.

 Visited Crystal Bridges Art Museum with the girl friends. Even though it was jam packed, it was seriously awesome. I cant wait to go back with Nate & take our time looking through it all.

 Over part of my spring break I went to STL to visit the parents. Mom & I had way too much fun shopping, laughing, taking walks, and just being with each other.

 I decided on a craft last saturday too spruce up our dull walmart bookshelves in our sun room. I bought this yellow designed wallpaper and put it on the back of the bookshelf to add a pop of color. I am SO glad I did it- it looks awesome and brightens the whole room up. I'm going to try it with our bookshelf in the basement when the renovation is complete.

 click on the picture to see the detail in the wallpaper.

I spray painted some mason jars springy colors. Not sure what I want to use them for yet, but I already love them :)

 We have been enjoying dinner's on our patio & night walks together thanks to this fine weather

sweet smell of spring

So thankful that it appears spring is here. I'm not going to get too excited though because it could very well snow next week,ha. 

Owning a home= a lot of work. With our basement remodel going on we found out that some of the flooding was due to the slope of the dirt next to the foundation. Nate, super husband, knew just what to do. In my head I was thinking [ get some dirt. build up the foundation. make a slope. done & done] However, the husband had other plans. He came home from work with this excavator thing & starts surveying the land, finding mathematical slope things & other junk I don't know enough to tell you about. Enter panicked wife. Last summer the weather ate up our entire front lawn (which is hugenormous by the way) and we spent quite a bit money & time & power into re-seeding the whole thing back in the fall so that come springtime our lawn would be beautiful again.... now enter Nate with his giant man toys.  The anxiety just built up in me wondering if he was going to tear up our newly seeded lawn.

 and if you're wondering if he did tear it up... yes he did. and I couldn't take it so I went to wichita to shop it off my mind (thats a healthy way of dealing with things... right?!) He says everything will grow back... I guess we'll see. On a brighter note- no more basement flooding! Job well done husband.

 March 6th Scooter turned 2. Yes we are one of those couples that celebrates their dogs birthday. [ by celebrate I mean we put this hat on, forced him to take a picture,  and gave him a treat present]. That probably wont change till we have kids, sorry. He is the cutest substitute for a kid though :) We love our little furry man.

 Nate & I spent the weekend in Wichita at a marriage conference & it was just really enjoyable to get away. our hotel was seriously awesome and it was a great time for us to get away!

My spring break starts this saturday  and I couldnt be happier to have a break. I will be heading to STL to spend some time with the folks. Unfortunately Nate doesnt get a spring break so he will be staying at home. Happy Spring everyone!!

...in sickness & in health...

we have had a lot of experience with that part of our vows this year. I have been not feeling great the last 2-3 weeks- from sinus infections to bad colds to the worst being last weekend, the dreaded stomach bug. Let's just say Nate has definitely seen me at my worst- yikes! And yet, I sit here right now reflecting on the fact that despite all the crap we have been dealt the last 6 months, from intense losses to battling illnesses , Nate continue's to take care of me- and love me through it A L L .  I don't know that a lot of people really think about that part of their wedding vows... at least I know I didn't.  I am incredibly grateful for Nate & I 's relationship right now. What we have been through the last 6  months are the kind of things that tear marriages apart.  When people go through heart ache, losses, illness, failures... that naturally adds stress to your marriage. and trust me, we have had all of that stress- but somehow, God has chosen to work in our lives & strengthen our bond through it all. I am so glad that I can look at my husband and know that even though life has dealt us some crappy cards the last 6 months, I have my best friend sitting here loving me through it all. What an intense blessing!

In other news- with spring coming soon (hopefully...) the theme in the Piston household is hope. I have new meaning with this word & what it really means to hope in the Lord.

" those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint"  Isaiah 40:31

"remodeling fever"... and other shenanigans..

This time last year we were remodeling our bathroom. Boy was that a wild ride. I am so thankful we are finished with it and we love what we did. BUT- now we are ready to tackle our 2nd biggest project on this house: the basement. There is really nothing visually wrong with the basement. It is finished, has carpet, white walls, you know... but we also knew there was a few  times it flooded & we had found some mold from what we could see. Our plan is to get rid of the mold, paint, get new windows/an egress window in the bedroom, and get new carpet so we can put furniture down there & utilize the great space!

Nate's birthmom, Terri, sent us these awesome crocheted hats for Christmas. They came from krochetkids.org which is an awesome organization. Check it out!

I have recently started cutting cucumbers and putting them in my water for more flavor. It is deeeelicious!!

This is the view from my bathtub. Scooter staring over the edge....

I painted these 2 canvases a few weeks ago. I love this verse.

the #1 thing we like about living in Kansas? the sky. I can't help but think that God paints it a little prettier than most places to make up for the lack of outdoors/landscape Kansas has, ha.

Anywho, life has been alright the last month or so. Nate has been doing p90x the last couple months and its been awesome to see his transformation. Maybe he will let me post his before and after pictures on here (but I doubt it, ha!) That boy is getting in shape!!

A funny story

I'm really trying to stay positive about life & look at all the blessings and joys that we encounter daily- and this happens to be one that we both find pretty funny- so I figured I'd share

Back in the summer Nate & I ventured to Gordmans in Wichita to shop around. We went in the store and I stopped fairly close to the opening doors of the store to look at the jewelry. Nate was standing behind me when all the sudden something caught our attention (actually, caught EVERYONE in the stores attention). A young woman was at the opening of the store and a young man was standing behind her, arms wrapped around her, and she's yelling "GET OFF OF ME!! GET OFF OF ME!!" The scene looked like something you would see out of a movie.  For a minute I thought we were on "punked" or "what would you do", you know, one of those shows. People started to stare at what was going on, wondering if someone should step in and what the heck was happening. It appeared that the man was hurting the woman and she was screaming for help. Nate, the super hero, decides this is not right and something needs to be done about it. He runs over to her and try's to grab the guy and get him off the girl. He put's his arm on the guy to help save this girl and the guy yells at Nate to back off because he is a cop (you would not know this though, he had no visible badge and was wearing normal clothes). At this point everyone in the store is just staring at this and I am wondering if my husband is going to be a hero or end up with a black eye. Nate backs off and the man and woman go back and forth, her trying to get away from him, him holding her down. Eventually she ran away from him and he pushed her down while she is yelling " I didn't take nothing! I didn't take nothing!" .

Well it turns out this woman was stealing. and that man WAS a cop. and Nate was trying to help her steal (unintentionally).

Maybe its not that funny to you, or maybe it's one of those "had to be there" things. Let me tell you though- looking back, it was hilarious.