My Sister (in-law)

Okay, so, seriously, every time I throw a party or talk to a friend or deal with my one-year old, I am immediately trying to think - "What would Stephanie do?"

Stephanie is my Sister-in-law. She is married to my big brother. My big brother, Tim, is gorgeous and brilliant. He's the kind of guy who men want to be like and women want to be with ;). His goal was (and IS, currently) to succeed in ALL areas of life.


The FIRST area in which he succeeded was to find a wife who was not only BEAUTIFUL (exotic, sexy) but also TOUGH (fiery) and CRAZY-AWESOME (more FUN than you can ever know what to do with).

This Girl is STEPHANIE. She is beautiful...but that's not even what I'm here to talk about. She IS crazy...the good kind of crazy that every woman wants to be like...not only for her man, but also for herself. But, again, that's not what this post is about.

The thing that impresses me most about her is that she has the kind of home that I want. When you walk into her home you just feel RIGHT. Not only do you feel comfortable sitting on her couch, but you ALSO feel comfortable enough to make her couch YOUR OWN.

Not only are you comfortable in her kitchen...but you also easily come to believe that her kitchen IS YOUR OWN.

You feel neither stifled nor nervous. You feel relaxed and like you could be a better person just by being a part of her family.

If you think it's because her home is PERFECT, you are wrong. At Any given time of day, you can witness a two year old hurling his spaghetti-o's at you and a four-month old growling with the intensity of a toddler.

When you walk in the door to their home you don't think, "WOW. It's perfect. I better be take my shoes off and be really careful about what I help myself to."

You think, "WOW...I hope I can get them to let me stay for the evening!"

Don't get me wrong...they DO have a really nice, big home with many beautiful things...but, honestly, that's not what you notice. You just feel comfortable.

I know my brother will be embarrassed by this...but I remember a time when he yelled from the other side of the bathroom door, while I was trying to pee, and said, "Jenn, is there toilet paper and soap in there???"

As I let out an assuring "Yup", I couldn't help but smile. That's the thing...EVERYONE runs out of toilet paper and soap and just hopes it's not when someone is noticing. The difference is in how you react to this phenomenon. I mean, someone like me feels nervous about that possibility and hopes that people don't soon find out that it's possible for me to run out of these things.

Someone like Stephanie says, "Dude, get the girl some toilet paper and soap!" and goes about her business of running a home that represents the equivalent of one big breath of fresh air!