Archives for October 2013

20 wishes progress time again!!! At this point in the year I realized that there were only 4 months left of 2013 (at the beginning of September that is…) SO I took stock of the progress I had so far on my list and decided to make a few changes. There were a couple of wishes that realistically just weren’t going to happen this year, so I either updated or completely changed those to other fun things I felt I could accomplish. Now, if you have some wishes on your list that you know you can’t swing before the end of December, I say there’s nothing wrong with holding off on those until the following year, but hopefully you’ll be able to replace them with something you may be able to do… 😉 It’s all for fun anyway, right!?! Good. So here’s my progress for September and October!

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, October 31st (tomorrow), to link up your list! We love seeing the progress that everyone has made and love to see encouragement floating around!!!

{September and October progress are this color and in italics. 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! 😉

Kassi’s Twenty Wishes List for 2013

1. Read 50 books, just for fun, that I WANT to read.
In early October I actually went and got a library card! I know, I’ve lived here going on three years and I hadn’t done that yet… But our library has a program where you can borrow electronic books to read on your e-reader as long as you have a library card number! Count me in!!! As of today I have read 28 books… I’m 13 books behind on reaching my goal of 50 by the end of December…. Time to get on it!!!!
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.

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!)
I still have yet to write a post about this… But I will… sooner or later… haha.
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!

3. Make a scrapbook of my trip to Australia. (I’ve had the photos since um… 2003…. oops….)
I ordered some Australia stickers to help nudge this goal… but I still haven’t started. Hopefully a November project!

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.
A lot of why I haven’t done much of anything else as far as wishes is concerned is because I have been CRAZY busy with my photography the last two months. It’s Christmas card season, so I’ve taken a lot of family sessions lately, several newborn and a few weddings! The photo below is from one of my most favorites from a recent senior session!
Business is booming and I’m loving it! I’ve done two engagement sessions recently. 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!

7. Make a photography website and FB page with those 10 sessions.
Hangs head in shame… I still only have eight sessions posted on my website… I WILL do better in November and try to get at least five sessions posted… That will be my goal for the month!!!
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. 😉

I hate to say it, but I don’t think I’ll be able to make any AZ blogger events until Klara is a little older and I have a better handle on my schedule… So I replaced that wish with a trip to Hannigan Meadows. It’s a beautiful mountain drive near where my parents live. The weekend I visited to celebrate my birthday the whole family took a drive up there and checked out the pretty fall colors. It was Klara’s first trip to Hannigan Meadows which warranted a few pictures. 😉

Kassi, Klara and Lillie (Nana) at Hannigan Meadows, October 2013.

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.
Again, this is another wish that isn’t going to happen… I won’t be tasting any wine until I’ve stopped nursing my daughter, which hopefully won’t be for awhile… I’ll think on it and see if I can come up with a replacement for this wish as well.

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 our first real family vacation with Klara. {Replaced take a 2 year anniversary trip just me and the hubs.}
After having our little girl in July, the same month as our two year anniversary, it became obvious that a trip for just the two of us was no longer in the cards. But I am totally OK with that!!! Instead we took our first family vacation and visited South Padre Island, TX to be in our dear friends’ wedding. It was Klara’s first time flying, first trip to the beach, and Kayli’s as well for that matter… 😉 So here are a few photos from our trip!

Kayli and Klara’s first trip to the beach! Kayli seems more excited than Klara, haha, but really she just wanted out of her seat…

The Mortensens at Dusty and Kayce’s wedding reception.

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!!!

14. Makeover our guest bathroom.

15. Plant an upside down Mulberry tree somewhere at my house.
Well, the time to plant trees in our area is long past… I do plan to go online and see if I can order one soon so that it will arrive in time to plant it next year.

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.

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 October! See you back here tomorrow with your progress, yes?