iowagirl

Two of our tortoiseshells, Clementine Isabelle is the stretchy kitty and Goose Mirabelle is the one w/more orange on her face. Both shelter kitties. Our first cat before we got married was a tortoiseshell, a stray who used a barn on the property where my husband used to live to hide from the coyotes. I used to feed her, and JD said if she could get along w/the dogs he'd let her be in the house. He came home from hunting the next day to find me curled up on the couch w/his three pit bulls and his new cat, by then named Bella Jo. She was amazing, and we had her until a few years ago. She was about 11 when she died, and left such a hole in my heart I went and got Clem, and then Goose. Their middle names are a nod to my Bella. We have a third tortie, Britta Rose, who we got from my parents after we got married-she's a crotchety 12 years old now. We also have a grey and white named Opilio Jo.
I love kitties.

Just adopted a 1 year old small black lab mixed with who knows what. We got it from a local rescue that drives to the South (he's a Kentucky dog) and brings them back to the twin cities. So far, much like myself, he's enjoying the change and the snow! He's really mellow and doesn't appear to have been too traumatized. Dogs really are great.

Driving to Arizona many years ago, was in a bathroom stall at a rest stop and a little girl and her mom were in a stall next to me. A little hand came under the stall and touched Tigger on my ankle. Outside, the mom chased me down b/c her daughter wanted to see it again. The little girl was so excited that someone else loved Tigger too.

Women go to extreme measures to force their bodies to fit some...whatever, some stupid image that mostly males have foisted upon us that we are less, we're unworthy, if we don't look like this specific ideal. Anorexia, bulimia, eating cotton balls, exercising for hours, surgeries, heck yeah body image is a big part of our lives. Our every day lives, it's all around us, constantly. Men telling us what we can/can't do to *our* bodies, actually trying to pass LAWS to govern what males feel we should and shouldn't do..you know what after a while it gets to be a little fricking old. We're told and it's pretty much beaten into us, from a young age, little girls in elementary school, how we don't fit in w/other girls, and it never quits. Until you've been a girl, a girl who doesn't have a "perfect" body, perfect clothes, perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect teeth, a girl who has looked in the mirror and wished she was dead b/c of how she looks and how others treat her, until you've had your body completely taken over and warped from having kids and nursing, I think maybe a person should just shut their pie hole about how women should and shouldn't feel and how body image is portrayed.

Cool but not cool! Haha I've been working on my "personal statement" for the past... million weeks. Ugh, I hate trying to talk myself up/writing personal essays. I'm hoping whoever reads it has a sense of humor or I'm fucked lol
As for me, my now husband has passed the 90 days sober mark (longest stretch of time to date) and it's amazing how much my life has changed as a result of his sobriety. We've been going out more, spending our (his) money on mutual activities and just soaking up (real) life.
He's also agreed for us to adopt a dog this summer (the last one didn't work out for a bunch of reasons) so I'm sooo excited for that because I haven't had a dog in years.

Women go to extreme measures to force their bodies to fit some...whatever, some stupid image that mostly males have foisted upon us that we are less, we're unworthy, if we don't look like this specific ideal. Anorexia, bulimia, eating cotton balls, exercising for hours, surgeries, heck yeah body image is a big part of our lives. Our every day lives, it's all around us, constantly. Men telling us what we can/can't do to *our* bodies, actually trying to pass LAWS to govern what males feel we should and shouldn't do..you know what after a while it gets to be a little fricking old. We're told and it's pretty much beaten into us, from a young age, little girls in elementary school, how we don't fit in w/other girls, and it never quits. Until you've been a girl, a girl who doesn't have a "perfect" body, perfect clothes, perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect teeth, a girl who has looked in the mirror and wished she was dead b/c of how she looks and how others treat her, until you've had your body completely taken over and warped from having kids and nursing, I think maybe a person should just shut their pie hole about how women should and shouldn't feel and how body image is portrayed.

Women go to extreme measures to force their bodies to fit some...whatever, some stupid image that mostly males have foisted upon us that we are less, we're unworthy, if we don't look like this specific ideal. Anorexia, bulimia, eating cotton balls, exercising for hours, surgeries, heck yeah body image is a big part of our lives. Our every day lives, it's all around us, constantly. Men telling us what we can/can't do to *our* bodies, actually trying to pass LAWS to govern what males feel we should and shouldn't do..you know what after a while it gets to be a little fricking old. We're told and it's pretty much beaten into us, from a young age, little girls in elementary school, how we don't fit in w/other girls, and it never quits. Until you've been a girl, a girl who doesn't have a "perfect" body, perfect clothes, perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect teeth, a girl who has looked in the mirror and wished she was dead b/c of how she looks and how others treat her, until you've had your body completely taken over and warped from having kids and nursing, I think maybe a person should just shut their pie hole about how women should and shouldn't feel and how body image is portrayed.

Women go to extreme measures to force their bodies to fit some...whatever, some stupid image that mostly males have foisted upon us that we are less, we're unworthy, if we don't look like this specific ideal. Anorexia, bulimia, eating cotton balls, exercising for hours, surgeries, heck yeah body image is a big part of our lives. Our every day lives, it's all around us, constantly. Men telling us what we can/can't do to *our* bodies, actually trying to pass LAWS to govern what males feel we should and shouldn't do..you know what after a while it gets to be a little fricking old. We're told and it's pretty much beaten into us, from a young age, little girls in elementary school, how we don't fit in w/other girls, and it never quits. Until you've been a girl, a girl who doesn't have a "perfect" body, perfect clothes, perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect teeth, a girl who has looked in the mirror and wished she was dead b/c of how she looks and how others treat her, until you've had your body completely taken over and warped from having kids and nursing, I think maybe a person should just shut their pie hole about how women should and shouldn't feel and how body image is portrayed.

Women go to extreme measures to force their bodies to fit some...whatever, some stupid image that mostly males have foisted upon us that we are less, we're unworthy, if we don't look like this specific ideal. Anorexia, bulimia, eating cotton balls, exercising for hours, surgeries, heck yeah body image is a big part of our lives. Our every day lives, it's all around us, constantly. Men telling us what we can/can't do to *our* bodies, actually trying to pass LAWS to govern what males feel we should and shouldn't do..you know what after a while it gets to be a little fricking old. We're told and it's pretty much beaten into us, from a young age, little girls in elementary school, how we don't fit in w/other girls, and it never quits. Until you've been a girl, a girl who doesn't have a "perfect" body, perfect clothes, perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect teeth, a girl who has looked in the mirror and wished she was dead b/c of how she looks and how others treat her, until you've had your body completely taken over and warped from having kids and nursing, I think maybe a person should just shut their pie hole about how women should and shouldn't feel and how body image is portrayed.

May 18th Big Brain in Omaha to get my arm band covered and we'll talk about adding peonies on my back. My husband is getting some sort of armor looking deal on his shoulder. YAY!

Driving to Arizona many years ago, was in a bathroom stall at a rest stop and a little girl and her mom were in a stall next to me. A little hand came under the stall and touched Tigger on my ankle. Outside, the mom chased me down b/c her daughter wanted to see it again. The little girl was so excited that someone else loved Tigger too.

Women go to extreme measures to force their bodies to fit some...whatever, some stupid image that mostly males have foisted upon us that we are less, we're unworthy, if we don't look like this specific ideal. Anorexia, bulimia, eating cotton balls, exercising for hours, surgeries, heck yeah body image is a big part of our lives. Our every day lives, it's all around us, constantly. Men telling us what we can/can't do to *our* bodies, actually trying to pass LAWS to govern what males feel we should and shouldn't do..you know what after a while it gets to be a little fricking old. We're told and it's pretty much beaten into us, from a young age, little girls in elementary school, how we don't fit in w/other girls, and it never quits. Until you've been a girl, a girl who doesn't have a "perfect" body, perfect clothes, perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect teeth, a girl who has looked in the mirror and wished she was dead b/c of how she looks and how others treat her, until you've had your body completely taken over and warped from having kids and nursing, I think maybe a person should just shut their pie hole about how women should and shouldn't feel and how body image is portrayed.

Women go to extreme measures to force their bodies to fit some...whatever, some stupid image that mostly males have foisted upon us that we are less, we're unworthy, if we don't look like this specific ideal. Anorexia, bulimia, eating cotton balls, exercising for hours, surgeries, heck yeah body image is a big part of our lives. Our every day lives, it's all around us, constantly. Men telling us what we can/can't do to *our* bodies, actually trying to pass LAWS to govern what males feel we should and shouldn't do..you know what after a while it gets to be a little fricking old. We're told and it's pretty much beaten into us, from a young age, little girls in elementary school, how we don't fit in w/other girls, and it never quits. Until you've been a girl, a girl who doesn't have a "perfect" body, perfect clothes, perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect teeth, a girl who has looked in the mirror and wished she was dead b/c of how she looks and how others treat her, until you've had your body completely taken over and warped from having kids and nursing, I think maybe a person should just shut their pie hole about how women should and shouldn't feel and how body image is portrayed.

Women go to extreme measures to force their bodies to fit some...whatever, some stupid image that mostly males have foisted upon us that we are less, we're unworthy, if we don't look like this specific ideal. Anorexia, bulimia, eating cotton balls, exercising for hours, surgeries, heck yeah body image is a big part of our lives. Our every day lives, it's all around us, constantly. Men telling us what we can/can't do to *our* bodies, actually trying to pass LAWS to govern what males feel we should and shouldn't do..you know what after a while it gets to be a little fricking old. We're told and it's pretty much beaten into us, from a young age, little girls in elementary school, how we don't fit in w/other girls, and it never quits. Until you've been a girl, a girl who doesn't have a "perfect" body, perfect clothes, perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect teeth, a girl who has looked in the mirror and wished she was dead b/c of how she looks and how others treat her, until you've had your body completely taken over and warped from having kids and nursing, I think maybe a person should just shut their pie hole about how women should and shouldn't feel and how body image is portrayed.

Women go to extreme measures to force their bodies to fit some...whatever, some stupid image that mostly males have foisted upon us that we are less, we're unworthy, if we don't look like this specific ideal. Anorexia, bulimia, eating cotton balls, exercising for hours, surgeries, heck yeah body image is a big part of our lives. Our every day lives, it's all around us, constantly. Men telling us what we can/can't do to *our* bodies, actually trying to pass LAWS to govern what males feel we should and shouldn't do..you know what after a while it gets to be a little fricking old. We're told and it's pretty much beaten into us, from a young age, little girls in elementary school, how we don't fit in w/other girls, and it never quits. Until you've been a girl, a girl who doesn't have a "perfect" body, perfect clothes, perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect teeth, a girl who has looked in the mirror and wished she was dead b/c of how she looks and how others treat her, until you've had your body completely taken over and warped from having kids and nursing, I think maybe a person should just shut their pie hole about how women should and shouldn't feel and how body image is portrayed.

Decided to start the process of preparing to apply for grad school. Studying for the GMAT, letters of recommendation, essays, etc. Awesome!.... but not really.

Driving to Arizona many years ago, was in a bathroom stall at a rest stop and a little girl and her mom were in a stall next to me. A little hand came under the stall and touched Tigger on my ankle. Outside, the mom chased me down b/c her daughter wanted to see it again. The little girl was so excited that someone else loved Tigger too.

May 18th Big Brain in Omaha to get my arm band covered and we'll talk about adding peonies on my back. My husband is getting some sort of armor looking deal on his shoulder. YAY!

The problem is... (and I hate to admit it) but you'll find women with a lot of tattoos will exude and air of confidence and not give a fuck what anyone thinks. However... the more close-minded men that pervade realms of society whether it be the news, TV, movies, etc. with these ideas about women, the more women will be raised into a world that holds that mindset and ultimately, will care. Yes, I have, over time come to accept myself and my body, but I can also say that it took me the majority of my life thus far to reach that point. And even my love for myself is teetering on a delicate tight rope because women are constantly fed (even by eachother) how to feel, act.. what to say and how to say it... what we should or shouldn't put onto or into our bodies. It's disgusting and repulsive when you peel back the mask on what is happening all around us, but it is also so difficult to ignore and not be affected by it when you are raised into the ideals of men.
Sorry to get all feminist on you all, but my point is that most heavily tattooed women do not get tattoos to feel attractive, but don't assume we are above feeling "less than". Or experiencing hatred towards our tattoos and our image and being hurt by it and falling into a world of shattered self-esteem. Everyone experiences it in the world we live in and no one is truly immune. Some just learn to roll with it and take it in stride.

I got the job I was hoping for! Wont make very much hourly for the first three months, but after that I should make good money. And the company offers an awesome profit based bonus system, which will most likely lead to my car being paid off quickly, a Triumph motorcycle, and some rad tattoos. Not necessarily in that order. I may be thinking a bit far ahead, but damn im happy now!

I will solve this problem by avoiding both areas, haha.

From Kim Saigh's instagram, progress from Saturday...maybe one more session to go:

Getting tattooed on Sunday by none other than @cltattooing . A Santa Muerte on my shin. Planning on a few hours, but might just get the outline and some shading in before tapping out.

Sooooo my husband and I've been talking about it..I'm going to look into going back to school this summer and getting my teaching degree. Scary, it's been a loooooong time since I've been in school.

@BrianH you're 27???? I did not realize!
@iowagirl - I do like challenging people's expectation of "who" tattooed people are. Although I am still very conservative about this myself, and non of my colleagues nor my students know that I am tattooed (at least not to my knowledge). I remember making small talk with a colleague last year about one of her grad students, and she went on a whole schpiel about how bright this young woman was, but you wouldn't believe it to look at her - she was all tattooed and weird-looking! Who knew that someone like that could complete a worthwhile dissertation? I had to try really hard to keep a straight face.