The year was 2019. It was the night of Chi Omega Carnation Formal. This is when the story of the Pistors began, not yet interacting but worlds colliding anyways. Austin was the date to Lanie’s Chi O big sister, and they were a picture swipe away.
March 28, 2022
Flash forward to Baylor’s 2022 worship event, FM72, where Lanie was asked to be in the choir to help with worship, and Austin was a part of the media team. Austin's job was to take pictures of people worshipping and serving, and his camera kept falling on the blonde soprano in the front row. Now you would think that if the camera kept finding its way to the same girl, a boy might ask out said girl, but that would be too predictable. Instead of a romantic invitation, Austin decided to make a brief introduction by asking if he was correct in identifying Lanie as his lifegroup co-leader’s roommate. Lanie, vaguely knowing Austin’s brother, said yes and followed up by asking how it felt to be the quiet twin. Austin, of course, is no twin; he’s the hotter, older brother. Yet again, their worlds overlapped with no lasting connection.
Some people may ask, “How did the two of them not date in college? They are perfect for each other”. The Chi Omega’s were Austin’s best friends and Lanie’s role models of what incredible women should look like. Lanie’s roommate (and one of her best friends) led a life group with Austin for over three years. He even told his best friend how cute Lanie was at that very roommate’s wedding. The crossover is insane, and yet, these two live pretty unconventional lives apparently.
May 15, 2024: Finally, the couple meets…well, sort of. After an intervention with loving friends and family, Austin takes their advice and texts Lanie. It was perfect timing. Austin was about to be in Africa for the summer, and Lanie was working the night shift at her first nursing job in Nashville. (A typical start to a love story, right?). They began to text, and the bantering humor was pretty much instant. They had the perfect mixture of light-hearted joking and passionate dreaming that drew the two of them together over technology. While the first couple of facetime calls were awkward and the WiFi connection was less than favorable, there was something special about these two that was undeniable.
August 01, 2024
FINALLY, the couple meets…actually this time. Lanie had been awake for over 20 hours because she was too excited to take a nap after her night shift, and Austin left a bachelor party for a ridiculously hot walk around the Dallas Arboretum. They were both sweating. Lanie almost fell asleep in the shaded hammock they found, and neither of them could eat anything. But in the A/C of Austin’s 4Runner, they began their in-person/online love story.
May 24, 2025
The next year held a lot of facetime dates, long drives, and packed bags. Lanie said she would never do long distance, but the Lord has a funny way of guiding us the opposite direction we think we’re going to go. She’s ultimately glad she took a risk on the law student who lived in South Carolina, and Austin loves adventure anyways so how could he turn down all those 7 hour road trips back and forth to Nashville?! The two fell in love and obviously, they got engaged which is why you’re reading their story on this website. The two of them are relieved to not have to worry about poor wifi anymore, but they are determined to still live unconventional lives after they say “I do”. What that looks like, they don’t even know. Regardless, adventure and trust in the Lord will guide them into a colorful, whimsical, hilarious life. They are sure of it.
