Back from Italy

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and a fun new year. I certainly did. I can't believe it was almost a year ago that I was packing my bags for the trip of a lifetime. I left last Jan. 16th for Italy. I was there for 6 months which means I've been home now for 6 months. Just to recap, I was there visiting my sister Nicole and her two adorable children Clayton and Paige. She was about 6 months pregnant and her husband Steve was sent over to Iraq for three months. On March 7th Arianna was born. She is as beautiful as they come. We had so much fun! Especially once school was out, Steve came home and my mom came over for a month to travel all around Europe with us.

We went antique shopping in Belgium and The Netherlands. We stayed at a beautiful resort in Garmisch, Germany.

We drove for six hours each way in one day from Germany through Austria to Switzerland to do a session in the Bern, Switzerland Temple.

We took the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, Austria. We went to a huge indoor swimming park in Slovenia. We crossed over a bridge just so we could say we were in Luxembourg, and took about 2,000 pictures along the way. Whew!

My dear friend Shauna came over for a week, I don't know if Italy was ready for us. We were all over Italy from Pisa to Florence to Verona to our favorite spot in Venice. We got stuck in a mini parade, couldn't get enough Gelato, Shauna loves the tomatoes, put our feet in the Adriatic Ocean, met some boys from Iceland, blew kisses from Juliet's balcony, and took lots of long walks soaking up every minute! Without a doubt the best week ever!

I also went back over to England and Scotland for a week and a half. I went back to Leeds and visited some friends from my mission. They were so sweet to let me stay in their home and see that I made it on the right trains. I met up with my friend Melanie in York and from there made our way back to Newcastle where I was trained. We went up to Edinburgh, around to the Lake District, stayed the night at the Temple in Preston, had fish and chips with an old companion, and eventually worked our way down to London where we saw Wicked. It was an amazing performance and an even more amazing trip! I can't wait to go back again.

I've discovered that I have a passion for photography. I can't take credit for actually taking all the pictures.

Every picture you see here was taken by either myself or Nicole or Steve and my mom took a few too, and so did the kids, but I took tons and once I got them home I began testing the limits with lighting and contrast and shades to really bring out the feeling we tried to capture in each frame. I've found that even the most unlikely shot can be turned into a masterpiece with just a little touchup. I love digital!
The adventure didn't stop with all our traveling. I met so many wonderful people in Italy that touched my heart forever and have become some of my dearest friends. (I'm so sorry that I don't keep in better contact but I love hearing from you and know that I think of you often. I'm the worst at emailing. New Year's resolution is to keep in better contact.) I went to the small military branch in Pordenone near the air force base in Aviano. There I met some of the strongest members, mothers, friends and single wives in my life. These sisters and their families amazed me. I showed up the first Sunday with my brilliant red hair and they all thought I was Italian, until I shared my testimony. It was hard to leave my sister. It was hard to leave Italy. But it was just as hard to leave so many of my friends. I felt like I was everyone's adopted aunt to their children. LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!! MISS YOU!!!!!!!

I was so sad to come home but excited to start the next chapter. I came home on a Friday and was back to work full time at The University of Phoenix on Monday. I started school full time as well. I came home in the dead of summer and it was quite an adjustment from a hail storm on the 4th of July where my feet froze, to the blistering heat of Phoenix. But it's home and I love it here.
I took on quite a bit when I got home from building up a social life again to running a few nights a week to going to the temple as often as I could while still working and going to school full time. I ran with two of my friends, Marissa and Jenny, in the annual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. My time was better than two years ago, and three 5K's and two 10K's later I was feeling pretty good. We wanted to train for the PF Changs half marathon but some unexpected events came up.
The biggest road block for me was that my friend Emily and I decided... to go to NEW YORK!!! I just can't sit still for too long. I love traveling and I can't seem to go more than 6 months before I start to get the itch again. I leave in about three weeks. I know it will be freezing there but it was the cheapest to fly now. If we plan on doing it like the New Yorkers do and walk everywhere I'll be sure to bundle up!

Christmas was so nice this year being once again surrounded by family. My brother Gordon and his wife Jeanette and their three angels stayed with us on Christmas Eve. John's kids and 9 grandkids came over for breakfast and played Guitar Hero. Then in the afternoon, most of the rest of my family, making the grandchild count to 16 out of 21, came over and we ate and played games and ate and watched The Office (I got Gordon hooked on it) and ate and slept and ate some more. The perfect Christmas! I had about two weeks off from school and work (one of the perks of working at a school) so I got my mom and grandma hooked on Lost. I watched the whole first season at my friend Lacie's one night in Italy. I started my mom and grandma on season two but found that I was explaining everything so we had to go back to the beginning. So now we're about halfway through both seasons. As if those weren't enough to keep me busy, I'm also hooked on Scrubs and Grey's Anatomy. Now I have dreams about Dr. McDreamy and Dr. McSteamy ha ha! Love it!

New Year's was the icing on the cake. It's been a while since us grownup kids had a party without the adult supervision. My sister and two brothers and their spouses will cause you to pee your pants laughing! I love my family!

I hope that you all are doing well. Please keep me updated with your families and all the wonderful news that is happening. I love to hear how everyone is doing.

phoebie_adams@yahoo.com
623-628-0573
8817 W. Avenida del Sol
Peoria, AZ 85383

Please drop me a line or send a quick note or come on over and I'll fix ya some pasta!
And I promise to be a better friend in the new year and keep in better contact!
Love you all Miss you all
MUAH!!!
Deanna Adams

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