#11 Complete – My First Tattoo!

We continue with our series of posts about at the things that were crossed off my list before this blog existed.

The Time: Our five-year wedding anniversary.
The Place: Maui, Hawaii.
The Accomplishment: Crossing #11 off of my 30 Before 30 list.

I’ve wanted this tattoo for a long time. I knew what I wanted it to say and where I wanted it inked. I’d actually been sitting on this design for two years. I just looked up the last email I received from my translation service and it was dated May 9, 2009. I worked with Hebrew Tatoo, to get the wording right (English to Hebrew is not a direct, word for word translation), and to choose the font that would become my permanent physical faith statement: ‘Jesus Christ is Lord of Lords.’ So this was a well planned, highly anticipated tattoo, and yet it took me two years to get it inked.

Aaron and I had never been to Hawaii, so after five years and several lean anniversaries we decided it was time for a tropical getaway. Five years – we finally felt like legit marrieds. We weren’t newlyweds anymore, we’ve been married for five years! It was a perfect trip, with long hours spent on the beach, long talks over amazing meals, and long drives along the most gorgeous coastline we’d ever seen.

My wedding present from Aaron was an artistic necklace with coin pearls purchased on Catalina Island. We both wanted a souvenir from our Hawaii trip, something we could bring back that would not only remind us of our time on the island, but would commemorate our five years of marriage. Before the trip I told Aaron I wanted mine to be another necklace. We spent time shopping around, and I saw lots of pretty pieces, but nothing that felt like it would mean something to me. Halfway through our vacation I had the idea to finally get my tattoo, and I realized why I hadn’t gotten it yet in spite of my planning – there was never a big enough reason.

A first tattoo is a big deal, I think. It’s super permanent, obviously, which is why I encourage everyone thinking of getting one to sit on an idea for at least six months to make sure it’s something they can live with. Every time I thought about getting it done I would put it off, and it took my five-year anniversary for me to see that I was waiting for something big to happen to get it done. I wanted my first tattoo to mean something, which is why I wanted it to be a statement of my faith, but I also wanted to be able to look back and remember the significant time in my life when I got it done. Five years of marriage seemed perfect.

Aaron loved the idea, and decided to get the tattoo he had been waiting to get as well. So he got his fourth inked image, I got my first, and we both took home a memorable and meaningful souveneir. I absolutely believe Jesus Christ is Lord of Lords, and am proud to have it out there for the world to see. I’m also proud of how far Aaron and I have come in five years, and how our love has grown and changed and is better and more strong today than it was the day we were married. #11 on the list was a real winner.