Yes Mom, Another Tattoo

For my birthday this year, I did something that I've been wanting to do for several years: I got (another) tattoo. I'm not too sure if I've mentioned my other tat on this blog but I have one on my upper middle back. It's not special, it's something I did on a whim when I was eighteen. I don't regret it though, it's just not something that has any kind of significant meaning to me.

I knew if I ever got another one, I would need to be special. I would really think it over, going through all the steps, doing my research on artists, designs, and placement before I made a final decision. In 2012, I decided my next tattoo would be a hummingbird, for several reasons. Hummingbirds are my favorite bird, in looks and in spirit: they fly thousands and thousands of miles every year, despite their size, to stay alive. They're gorgeous, they're resourceful, and they're feisty (have you ever seen two of them fight over some food?) Lastly, these little birds remind me of my precious Grandmother, who left us in 2011. She loved having the little birds in her yard and had feeders galore to attract them so she could watch.

I love seeing all the hummingbirds around.... it's like having my Grandma send me a little hello and "I love you" every time I see one. #latergram

A photo posted by Kalyn (@kalynlouise23) on Sep 2, 2014 at 8:15pm PDT

As we all know, tattoos can be a subject of controversy. My own husband dislikes tattoos and doesn't have any, nor does he particularly like mine. Still we talked about it, me slowly convincing him that this one was important to me. He asked me to wait, to be sure it wasn't something fleeting that I wouldn't like as much after a year or two. So I waited, and this year on my birthday, after three years of serious thought and decision making, I booked an appointment to have her drawn.
I had some ideas floating around in my head and had stalked google, pinterest, and instagram for inspiration but I could never find any that seemed quite right for me. I met with  my tattooer, Drew, and showed him one picture that was kind of close to what I wanted. After chatting a little while about it, I booked the appointment for the following week. I sent him a few more photos via email with some pretty "all over the place" instructions, hoping he could make heads or tales of what I wanted.
One week later, I went back to the tattoo shop to see what he had drawn, and I immediately fell in love with the little lady. I'm pretty sure I even got teary eyed. Two hours later, we were finished. I chose to have her on my foot so that she's always walking where I'm walking, step by step, she's there to remind me: be fierce, be beautiful, and don't ever stop flying.

She'll be my last tattoo. Partially because I had to promise my husband it would be, in order to get this one and partially because I really don't want anymore. It took three years to finally bite the bullet on this one and I just can't see myself having that kind of desire for anything else.
Do you have any tattoos? I'd love to hear about them!