Friday night we decided to load up and head to my brother's house. He lives in the house I grew up in and I haven't been there in over 2 years. Driving the country roads made me feel like I was home. Danny couldn't believe how many lightening bugs there were in the mountains. Sometimes I truly miss home and the country.
I've been itching for months to get a new tattoo. I've had a pretty good idea of what I wanted for a few years. One drunken night I told my best friend what I wanted and when I explained to her the meaning behind it she said I was almost in tears. So I figured it was a pretty safe bet that this would not be a tattoo I would regret 6 months later.
My parents were supposed to float the river and then have a cook out, but due to all the rain they were unable to float. So my mom watched the kids while Danny and I went and got tattoos!
We woke up early and were the first in line at 8:00. By about 10:30 while we were waiting to be called back the butterflies sunk in. I haven't had a tattoo in 7 years so I was a little nervous about the pain. A guy I graduated with, Evan, was our tattoo artist. So it was kind of nice to catch up with him and actually know who was doing our work. Danny got in the chair first and was done in about 10 minutes. I was up next and it took about 45 minutes to an hour. It really wasn't too painful. There were a few tender spots but nothing I couldn't handle. I actually found that watching the needle and seeing where he was going next helped with the pain.
So as a whole this is the Virgo symbol, which is for both Marissa and myself. Since Marissa was a week late, she went from being a Leo to a Virgo. The pink ribbon is for breast cancer and for my Aunt Norma who passed away from breast cancer about 6 years ago. And if you look at it from a distance, it kind of looks like an "M" for my last name. I love it!
The original plan was to get our wedding ring finger tattooed, but it turns out my size 3.5 finger is too small for our wedding date or even Danny's initials. Instead of rushing into something I wasn't 100% sure about, I held off on my ring finger. Danny did get his done, though. In binary. It is the equivalent of 08-11-08 for 08 November 2008. Yes, he is a nerd. ;)
After getting our tattoos we headed to the Shenandoah river for fishing and catching up with friends and family. I grew up on this river and to see both of my kids enjoying the outdoors, throwing sticks and rocks in the river, helping catch fish and with dirt on their faces, it made me remember all the good times of being back home. I even caught a catfish!
