Miss Minty

october 1 🤍

I got baptized in the ocean.

I’ve wanted to do this for a while, and after everything I’ve been through the last year and a half, it finally felt like the right time.

cancer changed so much about me. my body, life, my faith, what I care about, and who I am. I’ve had to rebuild a lot of myself this past year, and I found myself getting closer to God too. I’ve always had a close relationship with Jesus, however, going through what I have been through really changes that dynamic.

standing in the ocean felt so fitting. nature has always been where I feel things the deepest and feel closest to God. I mean, I literally shaved my head in the middle of the forest during chemo. maybe it’s the spiritual Pisces in me, but being outside has always been where I go when something really means something to me.

and this all happened on October 1, the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. after everything cancer has meant in my life, and losing my mom to the same cancer I would later be diagnosed with, that timing was definitely not lost on me.

NEW BEGINNING 🤍
I don’t know exactly what this next chapter looks like, but I know I’m walking into it with a lot more faith than I had before.

getting to do this alongside kaeli made it even sweeter. there’s something really special about having women in your life who will pray with you and walk into the ocean with you for something like this.

and Kaycee Marie Gehring + Jasmine Amber , who came along just to support us and have been some of my biggest cheerleaders through a really hard year. 🥹 having you girls there meant so much to me. and jasmine managed to capture exactly what this felt like in these photos.

very grateful for good women. girls’ girls, but make it Jesus. 😂

thank you Light Church for creating such a safe and beautiful space for this moment. 🤍

October 1. Breast Cancer Awareness Month 🎀

Last year, breast cancer was basically my entire life.

And cancer was already part of my story before I ever got diagnosed. I lost my mom to the same cancer I ended up having.

So hearing “invasive lobular breast cancer” hit a little differently for me.

Stage III.
17 cm of cancer.
positive lymph nodes.
A bilateral mastectomy.
Reconstructions
4 rounds of chemo.
Losing my hair.
Another surgery.
23 rounds of radiation.
Scans.
Needles.
Appointments.
So many waiting rooms.
And a lot of fear I didn’t really talk about.

I think one of the weirdest parts about cancer is how much it messes with your identity.

For a while I didn’t recognize myself physically, but I also didn’t really recognize my life. Everything I cared about before felt different. Some things suddenly mattered way less. Other things mattered way more.

And now that I’m on the other side of the really hard part, I’m still figuring out who I am after all of it.

I don’t want cancer to be my whole identity. But I also can’t pretend it didn’t change me.

I’m softer about some things. Way less patient with others. I care a lot less about what people think. I’m more protective of my time, my kids, my peace and the people I love.

And I think I’m just more myself now.

A whole lot of normal life still happened in between all of the cancer stuff too.

I laughed.
I worked.
I showed up for my kids.
I cried.
I got dressed when I didn’t feel like it.
I took pictures.
I made memories.
I had really sh*tty days.
And really beautiful ones.

So for October, here’s a dump of some of the photos I never thought I’d have to take.

The ugly ones. The funny ones. The hospital ones. The ones where I actually felt pretty. The ones where I was scared. And the ones where I was just really freaking happy to be alive.

I wish my mom was here to see this part.

One year later, I’m still here.

Still figuring it out. But very, very happy to be here.

We’ve been keeping a little secret 👀

We’re officially teaming up for our first IN PERSON Academy weekend and we are SO excited about this one.

Teeth Whitening + Fine Line Tattooing, two things we’ve built businesses around and now we get to teach you everything we know 🤍

If you’ve been wanting to add something new to your business, make some extra money hunnny, or you’ve just been waiting for a reason to finally start something of your own…
hiiiiiiiiii this is probably it 😂

We’re talking hands on training, certification, full loaded kits, business tips, all the little things we wish we knew starting out + a whole weekend of learning with us and a bunch of girls doing the same thing 🤍

You can choose the training that fits you best, teeth whitening or fine line tattooing, OR make a weekend of it and take both at a special Academy rate 👌🏽

October 10 + 11 in Gilbert, AZ Letty Lume Studio

We’re keeping the classes small so we can actually spend time with everyone, so spots are limited 🤍

Drop us “ACADEMY” and we’ll send you all the details!!!

Photos by the BEST: Jasmine Amber

it’s actually so crazy looking back at all these stages because some of them felt like they lasted FOREVER 😂

I tried cold capping during chemo and unfortunately it didn’t work for me, so growing my hair back has been a whole journey of its own.

there have been so many awkward phases, the chemo curls doing whatever they want 😂, so many days i’ve felt super self-conscious, and honestly a lot of days where i still reached for a wig because i just didn’t feel like myself yet.

but this whole process has made me grow in ways that have nothing to do with hair. learning to be seen when i didn’t feel my prettiest, learning to be patient with myself, and learning that progress still counts even when you’re not at the finish line yet.

i’m still not totally there. i still reach for my wigs more than i’d probably like to admit some weeks. but looking back at all of this makes me realize how far i’ve actually come 🤍

and every awkward little stage got me here.

STILLLLL RISING 💛

just checking, which one do feel the most 👀

you’re allowed to feel allllll of it. 🤍

gratitude.
the grief.
growth.
the “what the hell just happened.”
the new standards.
the harder boundaries.

how are you, really?

it’s here. 🥹

MOODZ is officially live. MOODZ // all feels welcome

this one means more to me than I can probably put into a caption.

MOODZ was born from a season of my life that taught me how many things can be true at the same time.

you can be grateful and hurting.
strong and exhausted.
healing and grieving.
happy and still have heavy days.

and somewhere along the way, I stopped feeling like every hard feeling needed to be fixed.

sometimes it just needs to be felt.

that’s what MOODZ is.

the hand drawn wave represents the highs, the lows + everything in between, because none of us move through life in a straight line.

and maybe the question isn’t “are you okay?”

maybe it’s simply…

how are you, really?

whatever the answer is today, there’s room for it here.

THE FIRST FEELS is our first limited collection and it’s available now. 🤎

🤎COZY GIRL.
🩵HAPPY GIRL.
☁️SOFT GIRL.
🤍BRAVE GIRL.

limited quantities available + once they’re gone, they’re gone.

the first 20 orders will also receive a complimentary MOODZ head scarf. ♡

and from the very beginning, I knew I wanted this brand to mean more than something we wear. 20% of proceeds will be given back to the cancer community, a community that will forever be part of my story.

I can’t believe I finally get to say this…

welcome to MOODZ.

all feels welcome. ♡

moodzlabel.com MOODZ // all feels welcome

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL THOUGHTS 🌈

One year.
Looking back at last year’s first day of school photo hits differently. (Swipe to see it)

At the time, another first day of school honestly wasn’t even on my radar. I was just trying to get through chemo.
I had just lost my hair a couple weeks before. I remember standing there in my brand new wig, smiling for my babies, but not really feeling like myself AT ALL. I didn’t even know myself anymore.

Today we stood in the exact same spot……
My hair is growing back. (But I still have a wig on) My eyes are a little less swollen. There’s a lot more life in them. And for the first time in a long time… I actually feel like me again.

Cancer has a way of changing what you celebrate.

I’m so happy to be here to pack the lunches, hear the stories after school, and soak up every ordinary moment with these four babies of mine. Who don’t look like babies anymore 😌

I’ll never look at a first day of school the same way again.

250🇺🇸

MAMA STRONG 💪🏼sunshine, being near the water, sandy kids, music playing, laughing all day long… honestly my kind of perfect. i’m a pisces, so anything involving the water instantly makes me happy, but getting to spend the whole day with my four favorite humans made it even better.

and one of my favorite moments was realizing i could actually pick up all four of my kids at once 😂🤍 i don’t know why that hit me so hard, but it did. it reminded me how far i’ve come this past year and how much stronger i feel these days. sometimes the smallest moments end up meaning the most.

being their mom is my favorite thing in the world.

they are my happy place.
my comfort place.
my adventure buddies.
the reason life still feels fun and magical even in the middle of hard seasons.

there’s nowhere i’d rather be than with them, barefoot in the sun, near the water, making memories they probably won’t even realize i’ll hold onto forever.

i’ll carry them for as long as i can… literally and figuratively 🤍

my favorite place will always be wherever they are!