On September 12th, 2015, I got my first tattoo. If you follow me on social media, you may have seen pictures of it or know the meaning somewhat, but I'm here to tell my story behind my first tattoo.

First off, a word to my parents. I know they're not the happiest with me now, because they don't like tattoos. I have pinky promised to you many times to not get tattoos on any prominent body parts, and I will stay true to that statement. But to me, tattoos are just another way to express myself. I'm still the same person I was last month, I just have some permanent writing on me. I'm still the same little four-year-old Katie in dance class, expressing herself and having the time of her life on stage; I'm just choosing to let my creative side show in another way.

I met my roommate Allison on Facebook June of 2014. I posted on the group page for our class at UW-Whitewater saying that I was still in need of a roommate, and by some sheer fate, she decided to message me. To say we're two peas in a pod is an understatement; she's my best friend and I really couldn't picture life as I know it now without her.

(Cute roommate pictures, September 2014 & August 2015)

Allison and I have always majorly bonded over our love of music; our dorm rooms so far have been covered floor to ceiling in posters of our favorite bands and artists. When I met Allison, she already had a few tattoos planned. I had always thought tattoos, when done well, were pretty cool. I had always liked the idea of getting some, but I didn't have any specific ones planned.

Walk The Moon put out their 2nd album, "Talking Is Hard," on December 2nd, 2014. I remember reuniting with my dear friends Sarah and Becca for Christmas break, and they're the ones that first introduced me to this album. Immediately, I was hooked and brought my love of Walk The Moon back to Whitewater. Allison and I basically never stopped listening to "Talking Is Hard" during second semester of our freshman year, and nothing has really changed.

Flash forward to Summer 2015; I went to Summerfest in Milwaukee almost every day. Saturday June 27th, however, had the best lineup of the entire festival. The Griswolds, Misterwives, and Walk The Moon -- 3 of my favorite bands at the time. Sarah and I were so intent on getting good seats, we went with some of our friends before the gates even opened to line up.

10 hours of sitting in the hot Summerfest sun paid off majorly; I tweeted the folks at the U.S. Cellular booth near the stage we were at, and they ended up giving my entire group of 12 friends and I VIP wristbands for the pit in front of the stage. This entire day is still one of my favorite memories, Walk The Moon put on nothing short of a phenomenal show. I distinctly remember texting and snapchatting Allison pictures the entire time because I wished she could have been there. But, I now know we'll both go to a Walk The Moon show together someday and it will absolutely magical.

Just a few short days after I saw Walk The Moon, Allison and Val came down to see Ed Sheeran headline the Marcus Amphitheater at Summerfest. It was this exact weekend that Allison and I got the idea for our tattoos: a lyric from "Different Colors" (the lead track off of "Talking Is Hard"). It's a simple line in the chorus that describes our friendship perfectly: "We carry each other." We decided that we want the lyric to be in handwriting of two of band members. Allison wanted the lead singer Nick Petricca's handwriting, and I wanted bassist Kevin Ray's handwriting.

And so the tweeting began.

The first tweet from Nick happened a mere week after we formulated our tattoo plan. I distinctly remember, it was a Saturday afternoon and I was working a double. Allison and I had been tweeting a lot that day, and suddenly Allison called me on the phone. My first thought was that it was an emergency, because why else would she be calling? And I guess it was, because Nick agreed to write out our tattoos and I started crying in public.

The next tweet came a few weeks later, at like 1 in the morning. I was wide awake and tweeting Nick asking him to write out our tattoos yet again. And then this ensued while Allison was asleep and I was freaking out by myself.

Suddenly, our tattoo seemed like it could happen next week, if Kevin got back to me. So that was our next mission: getting Kevin's handwriting. My goal was to get it by when September rolled around, so that Allison and I would be able to get our tattoos as soon as possible after moving back to Whitewater.

I tweeted Kevin rather obsessively for the remainder of summer to no avail. As we returned back to school, Allison and I had a conversation about the possibility of Kevin not getting back to me. I tried to accept the fact that it might not happen, and that I'd just get one of the options Nick sent us instead. Until one Sunday night, when everything changed...

To say that I wasn't expecting this message was a major understatement. Allison and I were out running errands when he originally sent it, so I read it an hour after he sent it. I was in my friend Katie's dorm when I opened his message and I immediately burst into tears. I threw my phone at Katie so she could see the message, and like a good friend does, she took many videos and pictures of me crying on her floor.

(Don't worry, this picture is the least embarrassing of the bunch)

I tweeted Nick about Kevin responding to us...

And then I told Nick that we made our appointment...

So, on September 12th, 2015, I got my first tattoo.

We went to the tattoo place in Janesville that Allison and our other friends have gotten their tattoos and piercings at. Allison went first and told me she felt almost no pain, but I was still scared. I was worried going into the appointment that it was going to hurt, but it didn't hurt as badly as I was expecting. Overall, it was a quick process and I suddenly had my first tattoo.

(Yes I made Allison hold my hand)

So, of course, the first thing I did after these pictures were taken was put them on Twitter. I direct messaged Kevin back and he responded almost instantly...

The amount of love and support and awesome tweets Allison and I have received in the past week has been simply incredible. I'm glad to have met so many amazing friends in real life and online through this band, and to have their support means the world to me. Music is a cool and powerful thing that is a huge part of my life, and music tattoos are the coolest things on earth. To see that music has impacted someone's life in a permanent way amazes me, especially since it has happened to me.

To Nick Petricca and Kevin Ray, thank you both so much for doing this for us. You're both absolutely amazing individuals, and we're so grateful and glad you did this for us. We hope to see you boys on tour soon, pretty please come back to the Midwest (specifically Wisconsin).

Thanks everyone for reading! Much love.