The Big Apple and the Big Ben

Ben Dollschnieder got this tattoo for a few reasons. He was spending a week in Baltimore with his brother, Nathan, and Nathan's roommate, an aspiring tattoo artist. The trio met up with some more family members in NYC and spent an entire week getting to know the city that never sleeps.

Music has been such a large part of Ben's life since he was a kid. He's played numerous instruments and been a part of even more bands. This quote by Bob Marley reminds him of the sanctuary that music brings him.

He also never wanted to forget the trip with his family so Nathan's roommate gave him a nice little reminder. Getting the tattoo may have made him pass out in the bathroom where he chipped his tooth on the sink. But he still think's it was worth it.

Sherri's Wings

Sherri Rocklage went almost forty years without getting a tattoo. It wasn't until her divorce that she finally decided to do something she'd always wanted to. Get a tattoo. She was kind of afraid to get something too big and in a place people could see because of her job at the time. Thus she decided to get something tiny. She now believes that tattoos have lost their rebellious nature and are becoming commonplace enough so she has plans to add on to it to honor her late cousin, Jeff.

Austin-house 5

For Austin Oakes, Slaughterhouse 5 was one of the first books he read just for fun. The one phrase featured in his tattoo, "So it goes," is said multiple times in the book. The quote reflects the general them of the book, that life is transient and fast, and what happens in the past will stay in the past. Tragedies we experience are just another chapter in our lives. It's something that resonated with him a lot when he first read it, and even more so when he went back to the book years later.

The King of Chicago

Justin Hefner was born and raised in the city of Chicago. He grew up watching the Bears, the Bulls, and, most importantly, the Cubs. Baseball was something he loved growing up because of the way it bonded him and his Dad. Even after his family moved to St. Louis he still remained the biggest Cubs fan you'd ever meet. Back in 2011, when the Cardinals made it to the World Series, Justin was so convinced that they didn't stand a chance against the Texas Rangers. He was so cocky about it him and I made a bet at the start of the series. The terms were that if the Cardinals lost I would get a Cubs tattoo; however, if they won, then Justin would have to get a Cardinals tattoo. And of course everyone knows his this story ended....

Becky's Ferret

Rebekah Boesch, loves animals more than anything. One of her favorite kinds of animals are ferrets. She got her first ferret when she was 16 and named it Boo Radley. She got her second the following year and named it Jacoby after the lead singer of the band Papa Roach. She was content with two for a while but when she was 21 she ended up getting a third and named it Tobias after David Cross' character from the show Arrested Development. She kind of rubbed off on me and I thought I could handle getting one myself. I named it Phil after the character from the show Modern Family. Long story short she took him in and then had four ferrets. These tiny little animals mean so much to Rebekah  and she doesn't ever see herself in life not owning one at any given time.

Me and Spidey

One of my favorite things to do growing up was read Spider-man comics. Spiderman was very relatable to a kid who was bullied because of his secret identity. When he was out of his costume everyone thought he was a nobody, but he had this secret no one else knew. He was actually a super-hero. That kind of gave me hope that even though I was being made fun of and laughed at I was actually someone special inside.

Star Wars

Step by step I have been planning a star wars sleeve tattoo on my right leg. I already had a tattoo of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker in a light saber fight as well as Han Solo frozen in carbonite. On Wednesday I added a portrait of Yoda on the back of my calf. The tattoo took about three and a half hours to complete but it was worth it! My tattoo artist, Dennis, is one of the biggest Star War fans of all time and I trust him completely to give me some of the best work out there.