Wednesday, June 29, 2011

I finally got a pair of TOMS!

So on my trip I decided to go ahead and get a pair of TOMS shoes. It's the one I was thinking about getting earlier. Toms Ash Waxed Twill Cordones. I like them. But in all honesty, if TOMS didn't give away a pair of shoes for every pair that is bought, I probably wouldn't have bought them. Not for $69 at least. But as I've been wearing them for about a week or so, I realized that although this may not be the most comfortable shoe I have ever owned, IT MIGHT BE the most comfortable shoe that someone else has ever owned...it might even be their first pair of shoes ever...and that makes it worth it.

Also on my trip, I tried on a pair of TOMS sunglasses. That's the next chapter in the ONE for ONE campaign. It is pretty cool. As I said, I tried on a pair and let's just say if they made them bigger, I would've gotten a pair too. But they don't so I didn't. Anyway, here's TOMS eyewear...



Are you gonna get a pair?

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

I was pretty impressed...

...with this guy's marriage proposal.  If any boy wants to marry one of my girls...take some notes...and then I might consider you. 

All kidding aside...this was pretty awesome. It was refreshing...uplifting...encouraging to see the guy asking the father's permission to marry his daughter. Gives me hope that some guys still do that kind of thing...and gives me hope that there might be a couple boys who might be having the same conversation with me down the road.



follow their story at mattandginny.com

Friday, June 24, 2011

Breathless

the music begins to play
and a soft melody fills the air
the rhythm of the song touches my soul
and she begins her dance
putting motions to the song
she paints a picture so heavenly
only angels could have matched her beauty
her hands move
like falling rain
her legs make her seem to rise and fall
as if she were floating on the the clouds
as she spins
her hair becomes like a beautiful garment
and her face
her face is what i love the most
her eyes shine
like diamonds in the sky
and her smile shines like the sun
and as our eyes meet
i am captivated
and i can only stare
everything else fades away, but her
and i am left...
breathless
(written in Auckland New Zealand 2003, while away from the one I love)

Just a little reminder to myself of how in love I was with her...
and how she is even more beautiful now.
It's good to remember.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

From the Road: Seattle to Oregon & the train

Well we are in Oregon now...and let me tell you, it was an adventure.

First, I think that 5 lanes of traffic is a lot. Most times when I was driving on the I-5, it felt like I was a little fish caught up in a rushing river and I was just going along with the current. But with that, most drivers on the mainland (that I've experienced) are pretty nice (freeway) drivers. If you blink, they will pretty much let you in. Not like in Hawaii, where if you blink, somehow it translates to other drivers in the islands that you would like them to speed up into the spot that you were wanting to go to. Like instead of "I'm moving into this spot" it means "LOOK, here's an empty space in the road. YOU should speed up and take it.". Anyway, that's just a rant about driving.

Now with that out of the way, I have to tell you this story. So on Wednesday, we were catching a train (Amtrak) from Seattle to Portland. Now the plan was to take my family to the train station and then check in. After that, my dad and I would drive back to the rental car place to return the cars. My Uncle would then pick us up and drop us off back at the train station and we would all have a lovely little train ride to Portland. In order to shorten the story a little, let me just say that we had a lot of little delays that pushed us back and my uncle, my dad, and I found ourselves stuck in traffic on the I-5 seriously doubting we would get to the train on time. BUT while doing my bible study, I read Philippians 4:6 which says don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need & thank him for all he has done. So in spite of my doubt, I was just thanking Him for the little miracles (that I felt occurred) which even gave us a chance to make it...and I started to believe that we were going to make it! Traffic started to open up a bit! We are going to make it! My uncle took a different off ramp and it seemed we were going to make it! Red lights were switching to green! I think we are going to make it! I'm texting Tiana telling he where we are and she's texting that they hadn't left yet! We ae going to mske it! We get to the station, jump out of the car and sprint to the terminal. We get in and ask where is the train to Portland...the workers point us in the direction...IT IS RIGHT THERE...but say that the doors are already locked and the only person that can let us on is the conductor on the other side. That's okay, I just have this feeling we are going to make it. We get to the door...my fist pressed against its glass...ticket in hand...I ask:

"Can we get on that train?"

He looks at us and says...

No

Okay, it's gonna take a little more coaxing I guess. He can't say no after I say with a little more desperation in my voice:

"But my family is on that train..."

He moves...

hesitates...

then...

"Sorry," he says.

1 minute later, the train pulls away from the station.

Not exactly the "romantic comedy movie ending" I envisioned.

My dad and I ended up catching the next train which left 3 hours later and we made it safely to the rest of the family in Oregon.

And while my dad and I did miss the train, we also got to spend some time together...just me and him...and I felt like we hadn't done that in a really long time. Maybe a blessing in disguise? I would say, Yes.

Lesson learned: Just have to make the best out of every situation.
Primary lessoned learned: Give myself more time in travel situations so I don't miss my train/bus/plane/etc.

If you're curious, I documented some of the stuff we did while we were waiting in Seattle for the train in my twitter feed. Just click on @jaredmiyamoto in the twitter widget on the right to see.

Fun Times

Friday, June 10, 2011

Lessons From the Road

So we are on a family trip and I am trying to blog from an iPad. Let me tell you, I miss having a real keyboard to type on. But one kind of neat thing is that you don't have to take it out of your bag when you go through TSA. I thought that was pretty cool.

The reason we left the warmth of Hawaii and trekked into the gray cold of the pacific nothwest is that my littlest sister is graduating from college. And as a result of being here for about one day, I feel I've learned some important things.

1. 56 degrees is cold.
2. It's only been 1 day, but I miss the sunshine.
3. I learn to trust God a lot more when I'm driving in an unfamiliar place.
4. I learn to trust God a lot lot more when I get lost driving in an unfamiliar place.
4a. My family learns to trust God a whole lot more when I get lost driving.
5. It's hard for me to get adjusted to the time difference.
(I should actually be sleeping now)
6. Expect a lot of crying when traveling with a child under the age of 1.
7. With all that said, it's good to be with family.

I want to write some more, but I gotta go to sleep. So....

Good night.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Wooden Heart by Listener

via RagamuffinSoul.com


Listener "Wooden Heart" from Nathan Corrona on Vimeo.

In whatever form, passion holds my attention for a bit...and that was the case with this video here: Wooden Heart by Listener (Dustbrandfilms) I'll confess, there were points where I was about to close the tab and move on, but the intensity of his voice held me...the conflict and struggle in his movements held me...the sheer visual beauty of the story held me. To be perfectly honest, it was hard to understand what he was exactly saying...until the last line:  we only have what we remember

And then I had to watch it again.

...because those 6 words resonate with something that I feel God has been saying to me: to remember
After (or when) you watch the video, click on this link for the lyrics to this poem and go through it again. On my second or third listen, more lyrics came to life and in a sense breathed some life into me:

"...but we're making it taped together on borrowed crutches and new starts 
we all have the same holes in our hearts..."

"...and my hopes are weapons that I'm still learning how to use right
but they're heavy and I'm awkward...always running out of fight"

"...all these machines will rust I promise, but we'll still be electric
shocking each other back to life"

"...because are church is made out of shipwrecks
from every hull these rocks have claimed
but we pick ourselves up, and try and grow better though the change
so come on yall and let's wash each other with tears of joy and tears of grief
and fold our lives like crashing waves and run up on this beach
come on and sew us together, we're just tattered rags stained forever
we only have what we remember"

Thank you, Listener.
"we only have what we remember"

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Hello again, the rapture, & Zach Smith

Hey there,

I've tried to blog a whole lot. Started at least 3 or 4 posts, but could never finish. Just not 'feeling' it I guess. Well, if you're still out there listening...reading, thanks.

One of the things I was gonna blog about was the whole Harold Camping, rapture thing. I didn't because I couldn't really say what I wanted to say. I kept getting side tracked. One thing I will say about the rapture and all of that is (as you may or may not have heard before) that Jesus himself says that no one knows the time when God will come back except for the Father (Mark 13:32). So when people are proclaiming the end of the world, I generally am thinking it will not end then.

But what this whole thing did get me thinking about was that one day there will be an end. Life is fragile and short. There is so much beauty that I know I miss because I take things for granted.

Here is the story of Zach Smith. I shared the link on Facebook a while back and for some reason, I thought of him tonight. The video is amazing.


The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

I don't want it to have to take cancer, a tsunami, a tornado, or something even worse to learn the lessons that Zach is sharing.

This is kinda cliche, but Thank you LORD for today. For all the blessings You have poured out on my life. Big and small. Help me to not forget...to not take things for granted.

Zach passed from this world on May 16, 2010. If you want to know more about Zach's story...his blog is here: http://www.hello-righton.com/