.#8 - shoot a deer.

for those of you who work for/support PETA, i am going to say this: we can be friends. our lives are not over. we can still have a relationship regardless of my desire to shoot a deer. it's gonna be okay. keep reading, i promise you'll be happy...

so on my 30 before 30 list was to "shoot a deer." contrary to some push back i've gotten, i actually really do like deer, i think they're cute, nice creatures who deserve to live and are a fine piece of God's creation, so before you cyber-slay me for being a "hater," know that deer are my friends.

my intent in creating this goal was indeed to shoot a deer. yes, with a gun. yes, it would be bloody. yes, my dad and brothers who live in texas would be included in the execution of this task (no pun intended). yes, i would give the meat to the homeless shelter or something of the sort. those were all my intentions and they were the best.

however...

i was home only one time during texas "deer season" which was over Christmas break. we had a plan to go out to the deer lease and see if we couldn't find ourselves a buck to shoot (did you know bucks shed their antlers and grow them back every single year and the older they are, the faster they grow, giving them a bigger rack, who knew?). anyhow, Christmas got here and texas got DUMPED ON with snow. needless to say, the hunting over-nighter turned into a "snowed in christmas eve" with just me and my mom. so our hunting excursion/deer shooting goal were shot down (again, no pun intended).

so... deer season is over, i'm at home in california, commiserating over my failed attempt at a 30 before 30 goal and then remembered a friend (by the name of david carlos escobar, who demands a shout out) who gave me a solution to this goal without having to use a gun, so here ya go:



I SHOT A DEER (with a camera of course).

and i didn't just shoot one deer, i shot a family of them crossing the road...

in this little snow-covered new mexico mountain town last weekend...

with these lovely women instead of my brothers and dad.

we were there for my brother's fiance (julea's) bridal shower weekend with my mom's side of the family. such a great girls weekend for such a great bride and one more thing off the list - yay!

8 down... 22 to go.
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for those of you who've been asking, here are the ones i have dates on the calendar for:

- U2 concert - june 6, anaheim (casey & erin, i can't wait!)
- 10k/half marathon - sometime in may with kim and/or the mud run in june with alyssa
- climb half dome - may 6-9 (with my small group from the oc)
- visit a friend somewhere i've never been (margie & alan's wedding in newark, ca)
- read one book per month (been doing it, on my 4th month now & lovin' it)
- just so you know... i likely will be switching up the bike-riding one to a santa barbara county bike riding challenge, it might be too much to drag lolita back down there.