A word on tattoos

Much like giving birth, the pain that you experience during is inexplicable. Just like childbirth, there is a lot of "breathing", groaning, cursing, and clenching. Trust me, ANYTHING that can be clenched WILL BE clenched. ;)

But once you see your new beautiful baby, all the pain is forgotten. OK, not really- IT HURT LIKE HECK. My new baby isn't perfect, and I freaked out that it is slightly crooked. My tattoo artist added two vines at the top to make it look more even... My brother and sister assured me that it's barely noticeable and John said the same thing when he saw it Monday night. Me... I'm still obsessing about it, but I am hoping that I can have some vines added to it later if it really bothers me.

I now have a beautiful piece of artwork on my body. At times I am still shocked to see it there on my lower back, it actually looks like it is painted on.... it's almost 8 inches in width. That's a lot bigger than I had originally planned!

As far as the place we went to , the name is Stingray Tattoo in Reno. The guys there were awesome and very nice. Except for the guy who did mine... he was nice but he was A TRIP! I could tell that since this was my first tatt, he was trying to have some fun with me. He tried really hard to freak me out, but after trying for about 20 minutes he realized that there was no shocking ME. In the end though, Rafael and I had a nice time chatting (in between me gasping for air and almost biting the tattoo table) about life and how we are all God's creatures when it comes down to it. We discussed family values, family drama and family humor. It was pretty cool.

MY tattoo took almost 2 hours and originally my sis thought hers would take longer, but that was before the shop owner/manager told me that to get all the detail I should stick with the original size. We decided to get them done the morning after I got there instead of waiting until Sunday, which was Friday. I'm glad we did because I probably would have changed my mind about the whole thing considering it's a bit like waiting to take your turn at the gallows. ;)

Waiting for the bottom to drop out, Mary thinks, "What the heck am I doing here... this is a baaaaad idea. Gad, I hope I don't flinch or fart while they are mutilating me."My sis Marci (on the right) is cool as a cucumber. On the outside. ;)

Ben says, "Don't worry... piece of cake. Ooooh, I think I just threw up in my mouth a little."

"OK, I can do this... That's not so-"

"#^@*!"

"Let the clenching begin!"

Ben's tatt- This way it reads "Family", from the other side and flipped it reads "Forever". He added his GF's initials... he's really trying to get Tammy to understand that she is The One and wants to spend the rest of his life with her.

This is Marci's- The colors and the flow of the image are just gorgeous. Both me and the sis got flowers!

Here is mine. It's colorful and slightly askew, just like me ;) I chose this design because like the lotus flower, I started in darkness and the mire. Even though I struggled to reach the light, I finally blossomed into something more... something beautiful I hope.What I loved about this design obviously is the flower's symbolism, but I also loved the flow of the design and the vibrancy of color.

I'm already thinking about what tattoo design I would like to get next, but the MISU and I have yet to discuss the possibility of a second.

EDIT TO ADD: I forgot to mention that my brother and I were talking after we were done getting tattoos, and He mentioned that at one point it hurt so bad he thought he was going to fart, I ROFL'd and said I had thought the same thing while I was getting mine done.

Clenching, sometimes it's a good thing.