Young. Broke. Handy.

So homeboy and I are both gainfully employed and all settled into our apartment. It almost looks put together - thanks to my constant desire to search "home decor" on Pinterest and our garageful of power tools.

When searching for our king bed, we knew what look we wanted and we knew we didn't want something flimsy or cheap. Which left us looking at beds ranging from $1,500-2,500.

Between growing up with Bob and a few years of mission trips, I know a thing or two when it comes to carpentry. I've roofed a doublewide under the Arizona sun and drywalled a three-bedroom house in Mississippi. Jason's not so bad himself - he's superhandy and in possession of every tool known to man.   So our powers combined, we are a furniture-building power couple!

Hence, our apartment decor. First...the bed. Once we realized that we didn't want to compromise on quality OR price, we knew we had to build it from scratch. We drew up the plans, headed to the lumber yard, chose some oak and poplar, and got to work. Total price: $400 and one 15-hour day of building.

So we had a bed. But no bedside tables.  So we used the left over wood and stain to put together some bedside tables. I happen to know a guy that works with granite so we scored some pretty cool granite tops. Bingo! Total cost: fo free. Leftovers for the win!

His:

 & Hers:

The bedroom was set. But not the living room. My parents replaced all the windows in their house a couple years ago and at the time I had asked them to save a few for crafts. Welp...it was craft time. We bought some extra wood to make the legs and "box" of the coffee table, and used the windows to make the big table and two smaller side tables for the living room. Total cost for all three: $60

You can keep coffee table books and magazines inside!

But we had nowhere to put our TV because the fireplace didn't come with a mantel. We decided to make a mantel and the question was "But, how?" Jason's family friends recently had a huge cherry tree fall down in their yard so they hired some people to come cut it into planks. They had all the leftovers in their yard still, so we asked if we could steal a piece. We picked one that still had the bark on it but had a smooth cut top so it's all rustic looking. We bought some brackets, sliced it to the right size, and hung it up as-is. Total cost: $6.

So there we have it. About $466 for an oak/poplar bed and two bedside tables, a coffee table, two side tables and a mantel - seven pieces of furniture! Not bad for a couple youngins. We may be young and a little broke, but we're certainly handy.

Ten years too long

I remember marking the date on my calendar in March 2003 when America first dropped bombs in Iraq. We jokingly sang “Bombs Over Baghdad” at youth group and fervently discussed how no one was going to step on America’s toes without retaliation. I knew without question that if we blew them up cause they blew us up, that that would show them and no one would mess with us again. Brush off our hands, give a stern look, and walk out with head held high.

While some sentiments of my early teen years still linger, my thoughts on war have swayed over the past 10 years. I’ve come a long way from the self-proclaimed “War Hawk” blaring Toby Keith in her bedroom.

I believe my lack of outspokenness against war comes partly from my unwavering respect for our military. I tear up at the opening notes of the “Star Spangled Banner” and can occasionally be found sobbing at YouTube videos of surprise military homecomings. My grandfather is a WWII veteran and my Facebook is constantly announcing the deployment/return of another acquaintance. I cannot begin to understand the immensity of the sacrifice it takes to be in the military, but as an everyday citizen, I do appreciate it.

I think my neutral if not “meh” feelings about war stem from my love of logic. Economically, the defense budget is astronomical. I just think of the other things we could be using the money for, if not just paying off some of this ridiculous debt so we don’t have to call China “Daddy.”

Humanely, it seems primitive that we’re all just killing each other. The way I saw it, a few years into the war everyone picked their heads up and said, “Wait, so, like, why are we still fighting?” At some point it becomes a game of “well he did it first.” Or, maybe even worse, we decide to sacrifice our own men trying to fix every problem in sight, assuming there will be an end to the problems. We killed Hussain, we killed Osama...you're welcome. Adieu.

And probably the root of my distaste for anything of this nature, is that I don’t think America should be policing the world. I’ve discussed this with people while travelling – Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, in Asia, Africa and Europe – and everyone seems to think America should bail them out the second they need a hand, but otherwise leave them alone because “you’re not my mom.” Whether it’s their conditional dependency or our willingness to save the day, America has seemingly put every other country before itself. I’m all about a worldwide culture of unity, but it’s more like a worldwide culture of countries sucking the life out of the country saving everyone but themselves.

To be straightforward, I think there are reasons to have and activate a military, and I think the Holocaust is a pretty legit example. I’m not quite a Pacifist and far from a daisy chain headdress-wearing hippie. But where we are now with alliances, nuclear war threats, oil rights…I feel like the whole world needs a Xanax. Calm yo’selves, nations of the world. Because a world war is one thing (whilst still horrible) in 1940, but with realistic chemical/biological/nuclear warfare in the mix we would be in a truckload of trouble.