So my blood actually came out red this time...but it mixed with purple!

It all started on a seemingly innocent evening in the spring of 2008.  I was chatting with a friend (also a Rockies/Tulo fan) and we were discussing getting new tattoos.  I'd already gotten one when I was in college, and her cousin had recently done her first, so it was kind of a time appropriate topic.  Somehow, the conversation came to getting a tattoo that showed our love for our boy and our team.  Originally, both of us were talking about getting a simple number 2 somewhere on our respective bodies - I'd already chosen my wrist because I'd wanted a tat there for a long time - and then turned to how we would make each of our tattoos original and not matchy-matchy.

Next thing I know, I'm talking pinstripes and jerseys and downloading photos of the back of Troy's jersey that I think might look right and be the right size. 

Soon after this late night conversation, I had e-mailed my friend the design for this and another tattoo (that has nothing to do with my team) and then found myself driving to her house, where her cousin awaited me with the tattoo gun.

Yes, I had two tattoos done not in a shop, but in my friend's dining room, with three other people and a baby present, and the Mets playing the Diamondbacks on ESPN.  Unfortunately, I was more interested in getting my tattoos than actually preparing for what care would be needed when they were finished.  I got a few interesting looks when I was standing in line at Wal-Mart with a box of gauze in my hand and blood oozing from my wrist. 

I get questions about it all the time, and more than a few people tell me I'm downright crazy.  But, I love my tattoo.  I love all three of my tattoos, but this one has a special place in my heart.  Was it painful?  Yes.  Will I probably think I was a little nuts in the future?  Probably.  But what it represents is so much more than that. 

The photo above was taken the day after I'd had the tattoo done, so it doesn't look quite like that anymore.  It's a little faded, a little worn, but I like it that way.  It looks like a worn-in jersey! 

And I know for a fact that I'm not the only dedicated fan with a baseball tattoo :)