The Full Story

Deana was born and raised in a small town on the central coast of California.  Never wanting to leave her sweet small town, love whisked her away to the big city of San Jose, the heart of the Silicon Valley in California.  While living here, Deana became a Montessori Kindergarten teacher.  Discovering her passion for developing curriculum and teaching educators how to work with children, she soon became an Educational Consultant for Kinder Care Learning Centers.  Within her career at Kinder Care, Deana filled many leadership roles including setting up and directing the programs at O’Connor Hospital and the Louise Blanchard Hospital in Watsonville, California. 

A life changing ski injury required a career move, leading her to the Regional Director of Kid’s Club Inc.  This is where she was able to foster another passion. She designed a state of the art school in Harvey West Business Park, located in Santa Cruz, California.  It was her work in Santa Cruz County that made her long to always have the ocean and the scent of pine trees in her life again.  Soon thereafter, she and her husband bought the home they would grow their family in and became residents of the small Happy Valley community surrounded by giant redwoods in the heart of the Santa Cruz mountains.   

It has been said that once you accomplish a dream, it is time to dream again even bigger.  With a dream marriage, career, home, and community, it was time to focus on the dream of having a child.  Having a family of four children was a dream Deana had since she was a child herself.  After struggling with years of infertility, John and Deana were blessed with their first child in April of 1999. Although these years were riddled with difficulties, fears, and tears….faith kept them going.  Little did they know, the future climb was going test their faith in the biggest ways.  Having a child with special needs and an undiagnosed  autoimmune disorder would prove to be a lifetime of unforeseeable strife.  It was the miracle of surviving this strife, that Deana’s faith was not only validated, but ultimately strengthened.  It was in this strong faith that Deana found the physical strength to move forward with another pregnancy.  In March of 2005 this family became four, blessed with a healthy baby girl. 

Just after her daughter turned 5, John was offered a promotion that would require the family to move from their strong, tight knit community, to a land they knew little about and it happened to be the farthest possible place from home on the globe.  Deana did not even know where Taiwan was let alone how she would manage navigating a country without knowing the language, customs, and school systems.  Looking fear in the face, fighting with faith alone, Deana had the courage to agree to the move.  As first time passport holders, the family moved to Taiwan to embark on what would prove to be one of the most valuable moves they ever made.  It was not easy.  The school enrollment issues, late overseas shipments and few belongings, in addition to the inability to speak Taiwanese, Cantonese, or Manderin were soon proven to be the smaller of problems to come.  A phone call would bring Deana to her knees.  Uncle Kenji was not in remission after all….celebrating his clean bill of health just prior to moving, was premature.  Uncle Kenji passed away.

Unknowingly, more landslides were about to happen.  Deana lost her mother and her Grandmother within the following years.  It was with the help of her new international community, her strong and trusted friends in her Happy Valley Community, her faith and her family that helped Deana survive such loss.  It is no wonder that Faith, Family, and Friends are the driving forces, the guideposts, and the light in her life.  After spending a total of four years abroad, two years in Taiwan and then a surprise move to Singapore, John and Deana decided to return home.  Moving to the same community would not be possible however, although it had always been the plan.  The family living in their Happy Valley home was in the midst of a high risk pregnancy, something Deana knew all too well about.  It was not a difficult decision to make, a search for different house began.

From their living room in Singapore, the online hunt for a house proved to be challenging. After a variety of offers and disappointments, her husband was able to find a house on a quick business trip to San Jose. This house was in a good location, close to good schools and John’s future office, so it seemed like a good option. An offer was made and the move to create a new home began. Although this move to San Jose, California was the most difficult move of all for Deana, she has created a community that is strong and supportive once again. Her neighbors are remarkable, the nearby merchants know her by name, and her family feels at home in their humble abode where new and old friends, from near and far, gather.

Deana’s hobbies include photography, discovering new places, and meeting new people.  She still longs for the ocean and pine scented air so her travels tend to reflect this inner need. Her new dream is to operate a Bed and Breakfast ~ a wellness retreat for the new people she plans to meet. It is her hope that she will get to meet you too. If you know you need to make a move ~ whether it be a relationship, career, health, or location ~ Deana would love to join you on your journey.