This was my first tattoo. I designed it. It is a lotus flower with an eye and three dots. The lotus flower represents peace of mind, and the eye symbolizes wisdom. The tree dots are mind, body, and soul.

I also designed this one myself. This symbolizes my connection to nature. The eye represents humans. There is a female tetrahedron Merkaba on the top, which symbolizes mother nature. There is a male tetrahedron Merkaba connected to the eye with points going in all directions, saying I am connected to everything around me.

Wisteria. This was because I am a botanist. It was in the month where I became a tattoo. I also got this tattoo to convince my fiance to get his first tattoo.

Unalome. I got this when I first arrived in Portland, Oregon. I saw the trees, and this made me cry because it was so beautiful. The Unalome symbolizes your path in life through enlightenment. When I got back to Raleigh, I added a tree because the tree made me feel enlightened.

Chris Sheehan, the tattooist, is out of Asheville. He helped me design this tattoo. It is two connecting mandals. One represents logic, and the other represents emotion and how they intersect. There is also a Mother Universe cross that shows the struggle between reason and emotion.

Sun and Moon: My daughter drew this. We went together for her 18th birthday to get matching tattoos.

Heart: These are the years my kids were born.

HDEU: This means “head down, eyes up.” I am a huge Chase Rice fan. This is his motto. I was going through a rough time. This motto was what Chase used when he was having a rough time, and I wanted to see it all the time.

My friends and I call ourselves a tribe. We picked this out four years ago, and we all got this tattoo. There are like 9 of us.