I Got My First Tattoo!!

Yesterday, February 4, was my 35th birthday. I always thought my birthday was pretty special because I was born on my mom's birthday and her dad's birthday. So basically, my maternal grandpa, my mom, and I have the same birthday!

For those of you that don't know, my mom passed away in January of 2020, so my birthday is a weird day for me now.

Anyway, let's rewind. Ever since I was 18, I always kind of wanted a tattoo, but I just wasn't sure what to get or where and obviously I was nervous about the pain factor.

A few years ago, my brother and I discussed doing a sibling tattoo and we never did it. After I went to Europe with my friend Becky, we thought about doing a tattoo to commemorate it, we never did it.

Then after my mom passed away, my brother and I were thinking of ideas, and here it was a year later and we still hadn't done it.

So, I took the initiative and decided on my 35th birthday that I was getting a tattoo. I let my brother know and he was like, "OK, let's do it!"

I knew just where I wanted to go to do it. A guy I went to school with has his own tattoo shop and I've seen a bunch of his work that he's shared on Facebook, so I contacted him and it was set! (Jeremy Boddy at Park Avenue Tattoo Studio in Sioux City! Check him out! He's great! And he'll keep it real with you. He was super patient with two first-timers.)

No going back now.

My brother did a pretty straightforward memorial to our Mom. He had her writing from his wedding card tattooed on his pec. Honestly, that wasn't her best handwriting, I almost said I'll find a different card, but that wasn't really the point. It was a special card and moment in his life.

I opted for something that wasn't so obvious. I got four stars on my ankle. Let me explain. I'm a Cowboys fan, but my mom was a HUGE Dallas Cowboys fan. She even had a Cowboys tattoo. So, the stars seemed right. Then the four stars represents our birthday on the 4th. One star is filled in purple for our birthstone, amethyst. One star is filled in Cowboys blue. The two stars being different than the other two, represents February, the second month. So, two stars are different out of the four. February 4th. 2/4. Get it?

I get it and I like it and that's all that matters.

Obviously, I've been asked a ton if it hurt. Well, yes, it did hurt. However, it was not as bad as I thought it would be. Just when I thought I would need to say stop, he would usually have to stop to re-ink or whatever it is that they do. It gave me time to relax. I can totally see why one tattoo can lead to another.