My Birthday Tattoo
Posted by Amanda on November 29th, 2007 . Filed under: Personal .
I actually did it – I got a tattoo! I love it! On the way to the tattoo place (Kustom Skin in Fort Lupton, CO) I was fine. I wasn’t nervous or anything. As soon as I got out of the car to go in, I started getting a little bit nervous. But it wasn’t scary at all – not at all like I expected. Ready to see it?
This is me anxiously waiting for the needle….
Getting ready…
Applying the stencil….
The stencil:
Getting started:
I feel surprisingly little pain:
Halfway done…
Almost finished…
Cleaning up…
And here’s the finished tattoo!
So before everyone asks, let me explain the significance of “five by five.”
I first heard the phrase years ago when Faith used it on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She used it to mean that everything was good or okay. This past summer, I remembered it when I was trying to decide what kind of tattoo I wanted. I knew I wanted the tattoo to mean something. I decided I wanted it to represent the major change that was going on in my life – my crisis of faith. Even when my life was up in the air and I felt constant turmoil, I still had this overwhelming sense that everything was going to be okay. No matter what I chose – faith or no faith – it was going to be okay. That’s when I remembered the phrase “five by five.” I knew I would encorporate it into my tattoo somehow. At first, I tried to go for a larger more elaborate design, but in the end I chose simplicity.
And I love it.
November 29th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
It’s definitely unique, and if you’re going to have a tattoo, simple is always better in my opinion.
Cool. 
November 29th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
You didn’t post even one pic of you grimicing in pain. So NOT cool! You think your all tough but your really not LOL! I’m glad you love it
And Happy Birthday!
November 30th, 2007 at 10:38 am
Beautiful tattoo! Can’t wait to see it in person.
And Tasha’s right… how much grimacing was there?
December 3rd, 2007 at 8:11 am
I think it looks great. Simple and elegant is definitely the way forward – complex tats are usually too hard to make out.
I’ve been vaguely thinking about getting a tat myself, I’m just not sure what theme it should have.
Belated happy birthday! Hope you had a great day.
December 11th, 2007 at 7:27 am
[...] birthday was November 29th, and she got a tattoo. Happy belated birthday, Mandi. This entry was written by JanieBelle and posted on December [...]
March 24th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
That is gorgeous. What font is it?
- Gina
June 22nd, 2008 at 11:28 pm
The font’s called Lamar Pen™
July 12th, 2008 at 12:05 am
I am going to get my first tattoo tomorrow, and I am so glad I’ve waited until I was well into my twenties to do it! It will really be meaningful & reaffirming this way; marking my skin the same way life has marked me. I love your ink, it’s just right. I feel the same way – simplicity says so much more. (so why the f*ck is my comment so long?!)
July 15th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
sweet tattoo! i loved when Faith said that in buffy…omg
July 30th, 2008 at 7:59 am
male or female? cool tattoo though
August 11th, 2008 at 7:32 am
love the tattoo
August 15th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
How cool! I’ve been recently thinking of getting Kindness tattooed in that exact same spot and everyone told me it would KILL! Glad to see you smiling through the experience.
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:54 pm
“Five by five” (occasionally written “‘5 by 5″, “five-by-five” or “5-by-5″) by extension has come to mean “I understand you perfectly” in situations other than radio communication, the way Loud and Clear entered slang, post-World War II. A further shortened form is “five by”.
October 1st, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Hello
Cool tattoo…did it hurt? I am getting one on my right wrist pretty soon and i’m a bit nervous. The font is beautiful….love it!
February 19th, 2009 at 12:19 am
hey mandi! just wondering if you could tell me the font you used for your tattoo? i abolsutely love it! or if you have a template of the tattoo saved anywhere i would really appreciate if you would email it to me. thanks !
May 5th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
what font did you use for this?did you just write it yourself?
August 17th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
whats this font?
August 17th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Jane Austen from dafont.com
January 25th, 2010 at 2:01 am
I came across this surfing Google
March 13th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
I love your tattoo! I too have “five by five” on my left wrist. I get asked what it means all of the time. lol.