inked!

In honor of my amazing mother and her courageous fight against breast cancer (she kicked it's BUTT), my sister and I joined her this past weekend in getting tattoos. She wanted to cover up her scars with something, so we told her we'd get pink ribbon tattoos at the same time as a way to support her.

So when mom healed enough, she picked out a tattoo artist in Corvallis and made us appointments. For this reason, the majority of my Easter Sunday was spent in a tattoo parlor. Mom and I went right there after church and she got started a while later, after our lovely tattoo artist, Denise, drew up a beautiful stencil. Mom has been saying how the scars are numb so she didn't think she'd be able to feel anything. I thought she would still be able to feel something, but after TWO HOURS of work, she was done and didn't feel a thing! This actually made me more nervous for mine because I had no idea what to expect since she had no reaction!

Megan came by after putting Sierra down for a nap, and got there as mom was finishing up. She decided to get a tattoo on her foot and got started next. Denise again drew up a lovely stencil and got started. Megan definitely was wincing and reacting to the pain, which somehow was comforting knowing she wasn't crying or screaming out in agony. But then it was my turn....

I had been going back and forth on what exactly to get and where to get it. I had originally wanted a small pink ribbon on my ribcage kind of over my heart. But then I thought maybe I'd want it on my ankle. Then I thought maybe I'd want to incorporate something else into the tattoo...a bible verse, other images, etc. Well, right before I was set to be inked, I finally decided I'd just go with my original idea. She drew up a simple pink ribbon for me and before I knew it I was lying on the table waiting nervously to get started. She put the ink stencil on me and it looked like the size and positioning were good. So she started.

I knew it was going to hurt. She said the ribcage area is one of the most painful areas to get worked on. Basically it felt like she was taking a knife and just cutting repeatedly into my skin. Not something that is pleasant. At one point I looked down to see how far she had gotten. Bad idea. She still had a good amount of shading to do (more painful than the initial border!). I gritted my teeth, closed my eyes and focused on breathing until she was done. All in all, it took less than a half hour. I put my shirt back on and my sister and I hobbled out of the parlor to go have Easter dinner!

My mom was on the table for 2 hours. There is no way she could have had that all done in one sitting if she could have felt it! Actually, she probably would have been fine. She is hands down the toughest most amazing woman I know! Hers looks beautiful and it is just so perfect for her! Denise at High Preistess Piercing is wonderful!

My tattoo is very simple, and actually a little bigger than I was thinking it was (it looked smaller on the paper-but I'm not very big so it takes up more space than I realized!). But it is really cute and I like it! I will maybe go back in and get it spruced up a little at some point when I forget the pain :) Maybe a little heart or some words or something-something very small but just a little extra detail. Maybe I'll have her write "mom" on it ;)

It is so weird to realize I have a tattoo! I keep looking at it when I go by a mirror and its just so crazy! A good reminder of my lovely mom (and grandma, who is also a survivor!) and of the strength she has and of her faith in God to work all things together for the good of those who love Him. I would put more pictures on here, but I was in my bra so that wouldn't really be appropriate...

Sister's tattoo, so cute!