land of disney

if i knew creating a talking mouse cartoon would allow me to have a whole "land" park named after me, i would've done that a looooooong time ago! ahhhh...mr disney....where did you ever come up with the idea to create something so amazing?!?!


i had the opportunity to free my inner child last week as i revisited the happiest place on earth ...disneyland. i've frequented the park many times before, but this was my first time (in a long time) going with people under the age of 18. lol. little humans (thank you arizona from grey's anatomy for introducing me to the new slang for 'children') are by far the BEST to roam the magical kingdom with. the excitement in their eyes...the screams and giggles on every ride...and the nonstop urge to run towards every ride in sight! pure awesomeness!

the day started off with a scrumptious breakfast courtesy of the marriott residence inn in garden grove. if you have a big family and are looking for reasonable accommodations, this is the place. when the sis told me breakfast was available downstairs...i was expecting your usual donuts, cereal and fruits. i was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a full on breakfast buffet complete with waffle bar!!! my fave!!! so...naturally we all stuffed our faces (and our ziploc bags...YES...my sis brought those down with her...hahahaha) with everything in sight. this was all in preparation for the mad amount of walking/running that awaited us.

then we were off. and of course a saaga family trip wouldn't be complete without someone forgetting something. this time...it was one of the kids tickets to the park. so the sis caught the shuttle back to the hotel while i forged on with the little humans. after getting off the first ride, sister caught up with us. as we headed towards MY favorite ride...indiana jones temple of doom...that's where we checked off another saaga family trip 'must do.' we lost not one...but TWO children. yup. kawika and latafale, in all their excitement, RAN off to the indiana jones ride, and ended up going the wrong way. by the time the rest of us got to the entrance to the ride, they were no where to be found. so we waited for a good half hour to 45 minutes until their glorious return, where they were greeted with the signature saaga slap to the back of the neck! hahahaha!

the day continued with more rides...more laughing...and more ulavale kids getting lickins. lol. we ventured over to the california adventure side of the park and it was pretty cool. it was my first time there, so of course i wanted to try to squeeze in as many rides as i could. the roller coaster, ferris wheel, swings, hollywood tower hotel and a few more. by the time we were done i was pooped! and it was only 4 o'clock! but the brother in law showed up with a bag full of jacks (that's jack-in-the-box for those of you not up to par with the fast food lingo) which was the sustenance we needed to charge on thru the next four hours (the park closed at 8).

after our lunner (get it...lunch + dinner...lol) we headed back to fantasy land to relax the rest of the night. well....so we thought. those dang little humans turned into little DEVILS by the end of the day!!! they were running all over the place trying to get on every ride they could. it was pretty ridiculous. ok...maybe i'm exaggerating...but i mean c'mon give me a break. my feet hurt and i was dead tired. so we got as many rides/pictures/shows in as we could til we finally bid farewell to walt's wonderland. we made our way back to the hotel just in time to get a good soak in the hot tub...and then it was moe moe time.

all in all...the trip was definitely one to remember. it just makes me that much more excited to go back with the rest of the 'ohana. thank you mr disney...and big mahalo to the saaga's for the SPONSORING this memorable trip. lol. luv them!

p.s. pictures coming soon...

mom

oka...so sad...this was the only pic i had of her on my comp...lol

with mother's day coming up, i can't help but be overwhelmed with gratitude for the woman who brought me into this world. as i was browsing through previous posts, i noticed that i had a few entries about my dad, but not too many about mi madre. well...here you go mom...this ones for you....you crazy lady.

angeline lina keo....where do i even begin??? do i start with her intimidating demeanor when i was a tween/teen...where no matter what i said/did...it always seemed to irritate her? or do i start with the time she pulled me and my sister by the hair when we were fighting over something as ridiculous as who got to ride a stupid bike??? or maybe all the times she would sew all my outfits for may days/banquets/proms at the last minute and would be stitching me up as i'm walking out the door???

i can hear her saying "fia poko!" while she reads this....lol

*sigh* so much to be said about this woman, but if i had to describe her in just one word, it would probably be strict stubborn generous. lol. i mean...aside from always laying down the law with her kids...and everyone else's kids, (click here to see what i'm talkin bout) my mom would give the shirt/mu'umu'u off her back to anyone who needed it. and not to mention take in strays..(ahem dana and migi...you know i'm talking bout you)...lol. she always serving others no matter what, and taught all of us...her children...to do the same. i love her for that.

she supported us with everything...and i mean EVERYTHING!!! i remember leaving school early most weekends during my elementary years because we had to drive to town to watch my brothers football games. i hated it because the games were soooooo long. especially when you had to watch TWO games! *bratty status right hurr! lol. but being the supportive mother, she would always drag us along. *small disadvantage of being the youngest...cause i swear nobody got dragged to any of MY volleyball games! lol

needless to say this lady has been there for it all. from waking up early to take us to the bus stop, to chasing the bus down when we slept in. from cleaning up cuts and scratches from falling off a bike, to giving us lickings for not being where we were supposed to be when falling off said bike.

i love you mom :)

update

it has definitely been a minute since i last blogged. so much has gone on this year that i haven't even touched up on...mostly because its been CRAZY busy. since i got back from korea i have been on the go non-stop. with work, family, friends and more work...i haven't really had much time to do...well...pretty much anything. but here it is in a nutshell:

*february 19*twins*saj hilina'i*stein maluae*homeward bound*beach*tsunami*besties wedding*qt with bff's*back to bootah*work work and more work*homeward bound again*keo babies visit from hawaii*baby blessin*mini family reunion*family time*GNOs*beachin' it up*mayjah rayjah*beachin it with the twins*beach beach and more beach*boots and kimo's*work*LBC*besties birthday*oceanside dinners*karaoke*late night convos*early morning airport shuttles*back to reality*back to working 2 weeks straight

so that's pretty much it. life is good. what makes it even better is that i'll be working from home in approximately 6 weeks and i am soooooo stoked!!!! i can not wait!!!!

something that i miss

this one is easy. i miss being a kid. carefree...no responsibilities...no worries about money or my future. just being able to live life to its fullest. when i look back at my childhood i always tease my mom that my other sister right above me, mahea, and i were the only latchkey kids in our family. the madre was home for the rest of our siblings throughout their elementary years. dropping them off and picking them up from school. i can imagine the occasional afternoon snack would be waiting for them after school. but not for us. we would get dropped off...but had to walk home afterwards. if the key was not in its designated spot there would be times when we had to break in.

which by the way...surprises me how our house NEVER got broken into! i mean...if an 8 year old could do it...what's stopping a grown adult. thank goodness for tight knit communities.

but don't get me wrong....my mom did the best she could to support our growing family. and in a way it definitely made me mature a lot quicker. i learned to cook, clean and do laundry all at the ripe age of about 9. then you can throw in taking care of ANOTHER little person, my nephew...at the age of 10. i had to grow up fast. i guess in a way that's part of the reason why i miss that stage in my life so much. when i look at my nieces and nephews now...and see how carefree they are...it makes me wann climb in a time machine.

i want to be able to play in the rain without worrying about getting sick. i want to be able to ride a bike down a hill without worrying about falling off (trust me when i say it can happen to grown az adults too!) i wanna be able to climb a tree without worrying about it breaking....hahahaha. most of all...i just wanna have one day without having to worry. PERIOD.

my favorite place

sunday breaks after church
easy walks to think about the day
swimming
digging holes in the sand
sand castles
playing in the rain
playing in the mud
mudfights
walking the dogs
sunbathing
late night jam sessions
catch phrase after being kicked out of the house for making too much noise
(ie pono jumping up and down waking everybody up)
getting stuck in the sand
meditation moments

these are just a few of the things that make this my favorite place....

my fears

as far as i can remember...i've always been afraid of heights. i don't know why, but every time i found myself higher than 6 ft, the worse possible scenarios seem to flood my mind. if we're on the 15th floor of a hotel, i would imagine the guard rail on the balcony becoming loose, and me falling to my tragic death. gruesome...i know...but for some odd reason, stuff like this always freaked me out. but i always faced it head on. whether it be trusting myself to take that extra step towards the edge, or going on that amusement park ride that pushes the limit. but....i wouldn't describe this as being my biggest fear. my biggest fear can be summed up in one word....loneliness.

having been brought up in the lds church, i have always been taught the principle of eternal families. and i've never fully understood that concept until a member of my eternal family left our earthly home. when it happened...people would tell me..."don't worry...you'll see him again," or "thank goodness for eternal families and Heavenly Father's plan." so of course i was comforted then knowing that i would see him again. however...eternal families are dependent on living a worthy life here on earth. so the thoughts begin to race in my mind again....what if i don't live up to my part? what if he didn't live up to his? what if i screw up and never see him again? what if i never see my family again? because to me...losing my family and being all alone is my biggest fear.

but...just like i face my fear of heights...i have to face this head on by working towards living a worthy life. unfortunately, i'm currently not on the path i should be on...mostly because i miss out on church and various church activities. but i've come to accept that i'm simply a work in progress.

facebook quotes

i have recently downsized my facebook friends list to about 100+, just keeping those i keep in contact with on a steady basis. and when new friend requests come in, i'm pretty picky on who i accept and who i ignore. recently, one of my coworkers requested to be a friend, and her newsfeed updates have been nothing but uplifting. her most recent status shared a quote that i found totally blogworthy:

history, depsite its wrenching pain...cannot be unlived...and when faced...with courage, need not be lived again.
-maya angelou

*sigh* thank you ms. angelou...for the uplifting reminder that i shouldn't let my past affect my future.