Kassi’s 20 Wishes Progress Through August 2013

How are your 20 wishes coming along??? Have you written a list yet? If you have yet to join us, please check out this post for the what and why, then write up your 20 wishes and come back here on Thursday, September 5th (tomorrow), to link up your list! We love seeing the progress that everyone has made and love to see encouragement floating around!!! 🙂

So with having a baby girl in early July my progress has been a little stinted… I’ve been otherwise preoccupied. haha. BUT I do have a little progress to report on, so here is my July, August update!

{July and August Progress is this color and in italics. May and June updates are this color and in italics. April updates are this color and in italics! Progress for March are this color and in italics. Progress updates from February are this color and in italics. Progress updates for progress report one are red and in italics.}

Here’s a button for those of you that have yet to join and those of you that have yet to grab a button! 😉

Truly Lovely

Truly Lovely

 

Kassi’s Twenty Wishes List for 2013

1. Read 50 books, just for fun, that I WANT to read. {I’m back on the reading wagon!! I started with Bringing up Bebe, LOVED it!!! I’ve also read Phil Robertson’s book (of Duck Dynasty) and really enjoyed it! And I just started a photography book!! So this got stalled a little bit. I’ve been reading up on pregnancy in my What to Expect book, and studying my manual thing from our prenatal class… All other reading has gotten pushed to the way side. WILL work on reading more in the next few weeks!!! So far I’ve read 22 books putting me 8 books ahead of and almost half way finished with my 50 book goal by the end of the year. I read the Beautiful Creatures series this last month and really enjoyed it if you’re looking for something fun to read in the young adult genre.}

2013 Reading Challenge

Kassi has
read 24 books toward her goal of 50 books.
hide

 

2. Take a trip up Mount Graham. (I’ve lived here a year now, think it’s time to start checking out the local sites!) So on a random Saturday afternoon Nate told me to load up our dogs and a few drinks, we stopped and got a picnic lunch and drove up to the very top of Mt. Graham!!! I have several pictures from the drive there and back, but here’s one to hold you over until a full post can be written!

The 'Arrow Tree' on Mt. Graham. Apparently people stop on the side of the road and shoot arrows into it... There were hundreds in this tree!

The ‘Arrow Tree’ on Mt. Graham. Apparently people stop on the side of the road and shoot arrows into it… There were hundreds in this tree!

3. Make a scrapbook of my trip to Australia. (I’ve had the photos since um… 2003…. oops….)

4. Participate in a Color Run! {You can see the full post on our Color Run experience here.}

5. Host a girlfriends’ dinner party in my home. Invites, menus, the whole she-bang!

6. Build my photography portfolio to include 10 different sessions. {Business is booming and I’m loving it! I’ve done two engagement sessions recently, one of my favorites from one of those is shown below. I’m also booking fall sessions, have a wedding the end of this month and have already started booking sessions for next year!!! Over the last couple of weeks I’ve photographed my first wedding and did my first maternity shoot to round out my goal of ten sessions!!! I’ve even photographed another family and had my first senior session this month!! That officially makes 12!!!} {Just an update for May-June, so far I have photographed 17 sessions! One was a birthday shoot for a sweet 8 year old girl, a wedding and a few family sessions!}

sunset engagement photos

7. Make a photography website and FB page with those 10 sessions. {So far I’ve had the time to get 8 of my sessions posted on my site. I have made a concentrated effort to get more posts up the last few weeks. Hopefully I’ll get the rest up by the end of October. I just launched my website!! I purchased the domain (www.kassimortensenphotography.com) and set it up in March! I’m working on getting the 8 sessions 12 sessions I have added to the page. Be a dear and go check it out, yes? And maybe follow…. 😉} {Facebook page is done!!! Won’t you be a doll and like ?!? Oh, and check out my sweet new logo c/o while you’re there. 😉}

8. Attend an AZ blogger event.

9. Makeover my master bedroom. {So this is a work in progress. We purchased a Cal. King mattress via Groupon. AWESOME deal! Then a few weeks later during, Mother’s Day weekend, my amazing husband took my to purchase a bedroom set in town! We got a beautiful set with a bed, dresser and side tables! No more plastic nightstands for us! We feel so grown up. 😉 BUT because they were able to deliver the bed set that day I haven’t had time to paint it like I wanted. So maybe in a few months once things with baby have calmed down. We’ll see… 😉}

10. Visit a winery and do a wine tasting.

11. Plant rose bushes in my backyard. {This is actually a goal in progress! I’ve picked out the spot to plant them. Just need the hubs to dig the holes (preggo girls aren’t so good at digging 27 weeks in…) and purchase the rose bushes.} {So I actually purchased two roses, had Nate dig the holes for them and we planted them. The one rose is thriving now and even has a few blooms, but the other… Sadly it just didn’t make it. SO I’m not marking this one off until I can get it replaced!!!}

12. Take a 2 year anniversary trip just me and the hubs. I guess it’s time to mark this one off the list. Realistically it’s not going to happen. I’ll aim for a three year trip next year! We are going to a few weddings this month though, one in South Padre, TX, so it will still be a fun trip!!

13. Private wish. (This is something I REALLY, really, REALLY wish for, so I don’t want to jinx it… When it does happen I’ll share what it is.) 😉  My private wish that I shared when we started this project was to become a mommy. Even though I considered myself a mommy as soon as I found out we were expecting our little miss, I waited to share it until now after she was born. I love being Klara Beth’s mommy!!! And Nate is an amazing daddy already! It feels like our little girl has always been a part of our family!!! 

SaffordAZNewbornPhotos

14. Makeover our guest bathroom.

15. Plant an upside down Mulberry tree somewhere at my house.

16. See George Strait in concert for his final tour. {On April 6 me, Kayli and our mom saw King George in Las Cruces! He was AMAZING! See the full post on completing this wish here.}

George Strait

17. Take a photography class or work shop. {This month I started the online photography certification course that I purchased a few months ago via Groupon. So far I’ve made it through the first lesson!} {True story… That first lesson is still all that I’ve completed. SLACKER! I know, right!?! Will do better this next month!}

18. Download a Book of Mormon reading app of some sort and read at least the first half! {I downloaded Book of Mormon Chapter Tap, it’s an app for $0.99 that lets you check of each chapter as you read through. So far I’m well ahead of schedule!} {Actually I am WAY behind schedule now… This goes along with my reading for the year… I just haven’t been into reading the last few weeks. Weird, right!?! Will be working on this one too!!!}

19. Visit Build a Bear and actually build a bear.

20. Host a holiday for my family including a traditional dinner.

So there you have it! My 20 Wishes progress as of August 2013! Don’t forget we hope to mark all these wishes off by December!
See you back here on Thursday with your progress, yes? 🙂

Comments

  1. You certainly have made great progress! What is an upside down Mulberry tree? Sounds interesting. I always look forward to seeing what everyone has accomplished.

    • Kassi @ Truly Lovely says:

      Well, it’s a mulberry tree that grows upside down! haha. Kind of like a willow tree, but thicker. You can cut out a doorway and let the kiddos play under it.

  2. i want to do a color run someday!!