Secrets Revealed

Friday was finally the day that we got our tattoos to remember Mason. I was really excited but also terrified because I already have 2 tattoos one hurt, and the other didn't so I wasn't sure what to expect. For a control freak like me, the unexpected is more terror than the actual tattoo process. I arrived earlier than my husband so the artist got to work on me first. I have to say, in 100% complete honesty that it didn't hurt. It was more like an annoying poke than anything. If your thinking about getting a tattoo, the back of your shoulder is a pretty pleasant place to do it. (at least in my experience... my other 2 are on my ankle and my lower back... yes, i have a tramp stamp... it's not something we talk about haha) Anyway... it was only about 20 minutes and it was probably easier that my husband wasn't with me because he makes me nervous (in all the good ways) and i was able to just relax. Here is the final product:

I only got one foot so I could add feet later if we are blessed with more kids.

The full shot... I'm ok with the fact that it's not my best photo- i am in love with my tattoo!

Ready for secret #1? I had been in contact with the tattoo artist for a few weeks about a secret tattoo for my husband. I wanted something that was obviously for him, but I wasn't about to be one of those girls with a guys' name on her boob. The artist and i went back and forth for a few weeks to figure out what kind of object or word and we settled on a letter. The first letter of my husband's name in cursive. So I got to the shop about 45 minutes earlier than my husband. It was super quick and not painful at all. Here is the final product of that:



It's on my right wrist- I wanted to balance out all the left side tattoos



It's the only tattoo I have where I can easily see it all the time. I like that (weather intentional or not- i didn't ask) it looks like there is a cursive C for me too. My husband has said for years that getting someone's name is the kiss of death. I don't know if I agree or not but I wanted something to represent the person that has changed my life. No mater what happens in the future, I know I'll always want to remember the man that made me a better person, accepted me for who I was, and who shared this very unique experience with me. So, happy Valentines Day sweety, i love you. He was super surprised (i don't have a picture of that) and now says he owns that arm.

Here is my husband's tattoo:

I am absolutely in love with the colors. I may have to go back and get some kind of border just so I can have the pretty blue put around it. I don't want to speak for my husband and his experience getting his first tattoo, but i can tell he is thrilled with it, and he was a trooper during the painful parts.

Ready for secret #2? I almost joined the military about 2 years ago. I was very serious about it, I had started working out regularly, and I went and spoke to a recruiter. Then he signed me up to take the ASVAB (don't ask me what it stands for, i don't remember) but you have to take it before you can enlist. I consider myself a pretty liberal person and I wouldn't ever want to aim a gun at someone, but somehow I got it into my head that I wanted what the ARMY was offering. I did extremely well on my test, I got a 98 (a very high score) and the recruiter told me with my score i could have any job i wanted. I was all set to do it, until my husband and i had a very serious talk about our future.

Unknown to me he was working out how he was going to propose to me and didn't think me enlisting in the military would go along with his plans. He didn't tell me any of this of course, so on my birthday he took me out to a romantic dinner on the wharf in Monterey. On  the way back to our car he stopped at this little rock lagoon looking part of the wharf and got down on one knee. I wish i could tell you the words he said, but i was so shocked that i don't remember anything besides me giggling uncontrollably and then saying yes, just once.



This is us on the beach at our wedding, not to be cliche but it was one of the best days of my life.

 Alright, it's time for Secret #3 Before the wedding above, we had a very secret wedding on September 5th, 2010. Only our immediate family members knew about it, and even then they got very short notice. They were sworn to secrecy, so if you find yourself upset at one of them for not telling you- they were under very strict orders to wait until we were ready to spill the beans. We found ourselves 6 months away from our huge beach wedding and it was insanely overwhelming. There was a lot of drama surrounding our wedding leading up to it, and the financial part of it was downright exhausting. Both of our families were planning a trip to Reno together and we thought it would be the perfect place for a semi-planned elopement. We literally gave everyone days notice and started hatching a plan...


Here we are moments after getting married (for the first time)

My sister and my brother lived in Reno at the time, and my sister happened to be good friends with a minister. We got married in her living room- in our jeans. It was pretty awesome actually, and if everyone had let me, I would have gotten married in my pj's. Our ceremony was about 2 minutes long- direct and to the point. We didn't say vows, we just repeated what the minister told us to and then we went out and partied with our family and a good friend from high school who also happened to live in Reno. It wasn't super special but that's how he wanted it. We wanted to do this for us, and share the big event with our friends and family. We needed it to be a no-big-deal kind of event so we could fully enjoy our big day, but with all the pressure removed. It was exactly what we needed, and we loved every minute of it. We will always celebrate our huge wedding in March as our wedding anniversary, and have a special date night in September.

If your wondering why I've decided to share this last secret when we made a big deal about keeping it a secret, it's because it's part of Mason's story. We started trying for him one year later on September 5th 2011 and it just felt weird leaving a part of his story out. Especially when the date was so special for us. You can read more about that night here.

So now you know a few things about us, that you might have never known. Here is one more: we grew closer again, and it's always a nice surprise when you think your as close as possible already. I look forward to being happily surprised the rest of my life.