Week's Links: What Excellent Boiled Potatoes

Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I got to spend a few hours on Saturday at a furniture painting class. I had a blast and learned how to use chalk paint and milk paint, and I can't wait to use all the techniques on the pieces of furniture that are taking up space in my garage!

And I've stumbled across some great links this week. Harry Potter, Friends, newborns, football...there's a solid range this time :)

I did notice these 11 things from the Harry Potter series, but I love them so much I had to share! (Also, did you know that JK Rowling is apologizing for some of the characters she killed off? And that Saturday was the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts?)

These 5 stories about Friends as told by Mr. Treeger were perfect.

How can you not love this video of an 89 year old Kansas football player scoring a touchdown at an alumni game?

This post full of pictures of mothers and their one-day old babies is especially touching today after seeing Duchess Kate in her heels less than 12 hours after giving birth! (Ps - I wrote about that in yesterday's Sunday Sparkles. Do you subscribe yet?)

I ordered some new business cards from Moo. Anyone else order cards from there? I've heard good things!

And this pin made me literally laugh out loud. Yes, there's a word misspelled but just look past it and laugh.

Have a great day friends! And if you ever don't know what to say, always compliment the boiled potatoes ;) 

Life's Too Short for Downton Disappointment

Recently I made myself rewatch Season 1 of Scandal. See, I have about 10 episodes from the current season saved on my DVR, and I just can't make myself watch. I can't remember why I liked the show so much, with all the "Hi, hi, hi" Fitz/Olivia conversations and the B 6-13 drama.

So I rewatched Season 1.

Y'all, Olivia Pope is the best. She dominates every situation, she gets sh*t handled. But what I really miss is the one-off storylines. I miss all the different clients and their drama! I've moved onto the first couple episodes of Season 2, but I don't think I'm going to watch all the way through. I've been reminded of why I love the show, but I haven't been convinced I need to keep watching.

Speaking of shows I've abandoned, I rewatched the first two season of Downton Abbey recently. Season one and two were amazing. All the Mary/Matthew drama, Sybill being her little feminist self, Mr. Carson doing his best Sam the Eagle impersonation - SO GOOD.

And then season 3 begins. And all the deaths come. I made it through the first couple of episodes of season 4 before I gave up. When they did the Anna rape scene, I was done. And I really don't think I want to watch any of the last season. I just want to pretend the show ended with Mary and Matthew getting engaged in the snow. It was perfect. I don't need to know more.

Another show I abandoned years ago  caught my attention last week. Grey's Anatomy killed off a major character. If you still watch and haven't been spoiled yet I won't go into details, but even I was shocked the character was killed!

I shouldn't have been though. Grey's never hesitated to kill off anyone. I gave up on the show the season of the George/Izzi drama. I watched the season opener after that season to find out who lived, and then I never watched again.

It sounds like I give up on shows a lot. I guess I do give up on quite a few! Life is short and if I'm not enjoying something I don't see the point of spending hours watching just to finish it. I do tend to stick with comedies more than dramas, probably because I still get enjoyment from the comedy even when the show starts to suck.

So know I want to know: do you still watch the shows I've mentioned? What has you hanging on? And what shows have you given up on?

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...

When I Grow Up: Founding Soul Food

Today I'm happy to introduce Hialee Howard, the latest person to be featured in the When I Grow Up series. Hialee and I were in the same class in high school, so obviously that means we are Facebook friends! I noticed she'd been talking a lot about Soul Food online and I wondered what in the world it was and what she was up to now. So I invited her to tell me - and you - all about it!

As a child, I wanted to be a ­nurse when I grew up.

How close (or far) is your current career from that dream? Even though I don't consider myself a medical professional, I do consider myself a healthcare professional. I help people eat healthy and stay fit! So to answer that question, I believe Iʼm not too far off from my childhood career choice.

What is your official job title? I am the sole owner/operator of my own small catering business called Soul Food. Aside from that I am a 200RYT yoga instructor. I would call myself a nutritionist/chef/yoga teacher!

Ok, now what does that really mean? Soul Food is intended to help people eat healthy wholesome foods without the prep time. I started out making pre prepped meals and have grown to meal plans, catering, and snack options.

What is a typical day like? Each day I teach 1-3 yoga classes. Some days that starts at 6 am, other days it starts at noon. Between teaching classes, I organize and prep food for any orders I may have that week. My job is a lot of self-discipline to work during the hours I have available for that day.

How did you end up in this career? I graduated from college in 2008 with a degree in kinesiology and had no idea where I was going in my life. I got a job, worked for a year and decided my real passion was food. I went back to college and got a second bachelors degree in dietetics. I knew I loved the field but still wasnt sure what I would do. The more I learned, the more I fell in love with helping people eat REAL food and stay healthy doing it. I started teaching yoga because of my mentor, Allison Candelaria. She is the owner of Soul Yoga and it has been such a dream working with her!

What kind of education or training did you complete for this career? This career is a tough one! You have to have a strong passion for it and sometimes take some scary chances! There are so many different directions to go for someone in the nutrition field but if you want to succeed, GO TO SCHOOL! There are so many things going on in the nutrition world and if you aren’t well educated, it’s easy to get distracted and coerced into the latest trends and scams. Always back your career with a strong education.

Do you have any other career dreams? What do you want to be when you grow up? My dream is to open a store front for Soul Food and be able to prep food and sell it in the same space. This is definitely a goal of mine and will hopefully happen sooner than later!

Any last thoughts or encouragement for others trying to decide what they want to do “when they grow up”? I think the biggest piece of encouragement I have for young people is to figure out what you want to do before you graduate. College is so expensive these days and so many kids continue to go not knowing what they will do when they graduate. I tell kids all the time to get their gen eds, and take a break if they aren’t sure. See what’s out there and where your passion lies. Then when youʼre sure, go back and get your moneyʼs worth. I also don’t think that it’s necessary to go to college right out of high school. 18 is so young to be expected to know what you want to do for the REST OF YOUR LIFE! There’s nothing wrong with taking a couple years after high school to get a job and find some independence. Whats’ the rush?

Thanks again to Hialee for sharing her story! If you are in the OKC area you may want to check out Soul Food or Soul Yoga. I've been to a few classes at Soul Yoga and I love it! Soul Yoga was voted best yoga studio by the Oklahoma Gazette this year, and your first class is free, so check it out :)