Dadurday: Installment #2

Happy Dadurday all.

First, a joke:  What do a church and a lazer fight have in common? 

pew pew pew

I've been asked to discuss my tattoos, which is awesome, because they mean a lot to me.  Each one tells a certain tale about my faith, and are built to remind me of what it means to be me in the Kingdom of God.    

The first two tattoos were done on my inner forearms, and were done as a pair.  They say 'Temple of God' in Greek and Hebrew, with Greek on the right and Hebrew on the left.  If you open the Bible at the two testaments, you'll see Greek on the right and Hebrew on the left: The Old Testament and the New.

I got them for my 19th birthday as a gift from my mom, and they mean a lot for that reason as well as the fact that they represent a truth in my life, that I am now the place where God means Earth, I am His temple, and He dwells in me.  

Next are the two 'gauntlet's' on my wrists: fire and water.  God lead the people of Israel out of Egypt with a pillar of fire and pillar of water (cloud), and so these represent the journey that I am being lead on through all of this life, a journey out of ignorance and into knowing, out of subjugation and into freedom.  As I've been in recovery, these have come to mean even more to me, as they represent the movement I am taking to move away from slavery and bondage and into true freedom of choice and responsibility.

The next most visible tattoo is one that is a work in progress.  It is a fox, snout covered in juice, as he eats from the grapes that surround his head.  This tattoo was inspired by scripture by way of the song "The Soviet" by mewithoutYou (which also inspired the title of that album), 'Catch for us the foxes, in the vineyard [which sneak in and eat the choicest grapes]'.  This is a reminder of the truth that words sneak, worm and wheedle their way into our hearts and destroy.  Foxes are fleet of foot, and words are even faster.  I mustn't let them steal from me what truth I know about myself.  

All of my tattoos were done by Dave and Robbie at Inkspot in Troy, and more beauty and truth has come into my life (not to mention sobriety and recovery) through that ragamuffin band of brotherly men than anyone could ever have expected.  

Next time I'll talk about the half sleeves, but I think this is enough words for today.  

Go forth and make beauty.  

Long Haul

Another day, another post I almost forgot to write... : / sorry guys.

So, for these past two days, Christopher and I have been on the road to and from Illinois. Our business requires us to travel some times and yesterday was no exception. We visited a couple libraries in Illinois and had to stay the night in a hotel.

Christopher and I love the times when we can just stop off at a hotel if we're tired of driving and just relax. We don't have to worry about dishes or laundry, we can just relax.

If you guys ever have a free night, take a road trip a couple hours down the road, eat at a place you've never heard of and book a hotel for the night. Bring your laptop and watch some Netflix, sit on the bed and eat some pizza, tell some jokes or just sit and talk. It's amazing how being in a different setting will open up the conversation and make the evening more interesting.

And if you guys are anything like us, three straight hours of driving, calling, emailing and laughing really wears you out so, we're gonna take a nap!

Oh! One of my best friends is coming over tomorrow and I have a request! If you guys have an amazing chicken recipe, please send it to me on facebook or share it in the comments below! :)

Thank you guys,
I hope you have a wonderful day and I'll see you tomorrow :)

Unique Situation

"You're friends with her?"

Yes, I consider my husband's ex-wife a friend.

I am so blessed, I couldn't ask for a better situation. We're all pretty good friends. I know I can text Brianna any time and ask a question or if we want to talk to one of the kids the weeks we don't have them, all we have to do is call her.
Christopher is an amazing father and Brianna is an amazing mother, just in different houses. That's why I'm thankful we have such good communication. Rules are rules, in both houses. We all get to have opinions when it comes to the kids and we all have a say.

I was once in a situation where the ex was my enemy and that was not a good time, I can tell you right now. It was so easy to have a genuine relationship the first time I met the kids because Brianna was very nice and trusted me completely with the kids.

We think it's very important to the way the kids view life to have two strong, unified (and pretty awesome if you ask me) families to look to if they ever need anything. I think in the situation that they are in, (two sets of parents) we're setting a pretty good example.

I wish there were more stories like ours. The fact that I can text Brianna at any time during the day or that I can joke with Drew on Facebook makes me happy. I'm glad that I can call them friends and I never want that to change.

They have made our lives so much easier, just by being them.

Thanks guys! Thank you for sharing your amazing family with me :)

>>>>>>>>>>>

If you guys have any questions for me or any topics you would like me to talk about, please let me know in the comments below. Today, my brain was fried. A business trip to Illinois just to end up staying there for the night kind of takes it out of you!

I hope you guys had an amazing day, I'll see you tomorrow :)

Those will look terrible when you're 80...

Let me just start out by giving credit, where credit is due. My tattoo shop is the Ink Spot in Troy, MO. I go to them for all of my work and I'll stay loyal for the rest of my life. I couldn't ask for a better group of people. Big Dave and his crew are the best artists in the area (in my opinion.)

Today I'm going to show you a couple of my tattoos that Ink Spot has blessed me with but first, a message from me to anyone thinking of getting a tattoo.

1. Tattoos hurt. Anything that's absolutely permanent SHOULD hurt.

2. Tattoos don't always HAVE to mean something. It's always nice to hear a story to go along with a tattoo. I also love a beautiful piece of art that you or your artist came up with.

3. Again. They are permanent. So, make sure that you really want this on your body for the rest of your life. Getting tattoos removed is a painful and expensive process I've been told.

4. Tattoos are expensive. It's a permanent piece of art that you carry around with you. If you are going to a quality artist, they will be pretty pricey but you'll be happier in the end getting the tattoo that you wanted instead of "that guy's" free hand drawing of what was supposed to be a bird but ended up being a sea lion.

5. If you're going to have someone sit that close to you for that amount of time and listen to you talk about your life story, (or let's be honest, say ow a million times) then you should tip them. This guy/girl is an artist and they deserve a little credit. It's up to you, there's no law stating that you have to tip your artist, but I do. Always.

Now it comes to the fun part! I get to show you my tattoos I'm only going to show two because I have so many pictures of them :)

The first tattoo I got was a birdcage with 2 birds around it on my right thigh. It has a million different meanings but the main one to me is one bird is me and the other is my parents. The open door to the cage symbolizes them as well, always being there for me, with arms wide open, giving me all the support in the world. Big Dave did this one and needless to say, it is my favorite. It's beautiful and I wouldn't go back and change a thing.

It took 5-6 hours total. I was pretty proud of myself being able to do it all in one sitting. It's around 9 inches tall and about 5 inches wide. So my first one was a big one, but I love it. :)

The other tattoo(s) I want to show you guys are on my wrists. These were by Shane Amerosa, another talent from Ink Spot. This one says Let Go...let God.

These...hurt... Much worse than my leg. Once he was done, I couldn't really move my fingers because my tendons were too busy being mad at me for putting them through that. After a couple seconds I could move my hands normally again. Places like your wrists, feet, ankles and other places that are close to the bone will probably hurt the worst.

I love my tattoos. They allow me to show things on the outside that normally, people wouldn't see. They also bring up a lot of questions. Some people hate answering questions about their tattoos, but I'm not tired of it yet :)

I do plan on getting more and maybe on Dadurday I can have Chris write about his tattoos. His are much more interesting than mine.

http://theinkspottroy.com/

This is a link to the Ink Spot's website. Please go check them out and if you ever have the opportunity, go have them create a masterpiece for you!

I hope you guys have a wonderful day and I'll see you tomorrow :)