French Onion Soup

Sorry I skipped a day! I got a little behind yesterday because I wasn’t feeling all that well.  dysautonomia is very unpredictable! I will just extend Soup(er) Week a day so I will have another tasty soup on Saturday! Tomorrow I will have Beef Stew and Saturday I will have Tex-Mex Chili! Ok, now onto today! I present to you French Onion Soup! I got this recipe from my favorite cookbook The New Good House Keeping Cookbook (I thought I should cite my source, I guess that’s what you get when you’re still a student!) Get ready to cry! Not only is this delicious to the point of tears but there is no easy way to cut all the onions! Well here we go:

French Onion Soup

What You Need:

·         1 loaf of French bread

·         4 TBS (of a half stick) of butter or margarine

·         3 large onions (I used 4 medium ones)

·         1 tsp. sugar

·         1TBS all-purpose flour

·         2 ½ cups water

·         ½ cup dry red wine

·         2 10 ½ ounce cans of condensed beef broth

·         4 or 5 slices Swiss cheese (I used Havarti, you can use any of you favorite cheeses)

·         Jelly-roll pan

What to Do:

1.    Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit

2.   Place the butter in a skillet and put on medium heat to melt the butter

3.   While the butter is melting, chop your onions into 1/8 wedges (cunt the onion in half and then into fourths)

4.   Place the onions and the sugar into the skillet and stir every couple minutes, until the onions are golden brown. (about 10 minutes)

5.   Mix in the flour until the mixtures becomes well blended.

6.   Place the onions, water, wine, and broth into a large pot.

7.   Bring the mixture to a boil

8.   Turn the heat down to a low-medium temperature and simmer for 10 minutes

9.   While your soup is simmering, slice the bread into 4 1 inch slices and toast the bread until it is crisp.

10.  After the soup has been simmering for 10 minutes ladle the soup into four bowls and place the bowls on the jelly-roll pan.

11.   Plop the toast into the soup and place a slice of cheese on top

12.  Carefully place the pan into the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the chees is completely melted

13.  All that’s left is to enjoy your delicious French Onion Soup!

Thanks for reading, Kirstin  

Thinking Out Loud

Lately I have been asking God “why” a lot.

Why am I sick?

Why can’t I be normal?

Why does life have to be 20 times harder than the people I see around me?

Putting all those together, I realized how selfish that is. I have so much to be thankful; for. All my confusion is a blessing. My questions shouldn’t be about me, they should be about God and what He wants out of my life.

Just thinking out loud, thanks for reading, Kirstin

Better Than Twitter

That title is a joke. I was telling my brother why blogging is better than posting a status every 3 seconds (no offense to any tweeters out there).

Well right on cue (as every year) my POTS is pushing my limits farther than usual; but it’s when I’m at the end of my rope that God comes in and extends it. I know there is no possible way I could have made it this far without Him. I pray every day for those who try to make this crazy journey without Him; it’s simply impossible.  POTS can make anyone stronger, but God gives you joy while getting there (I may just make that one my Facebook status). I’m kidding about that.

Thanks for reading!Kirstin    

Why I Blog

Happy Monday all! I surprisingly love Monday’s because I like routines and not being lazy like I am on weekends.

Well today I am going to share why I blog, in list form.

1.       love writing

2.      I love sharing my story

3.      It’s fun to journal online and let other people learn from my mistakes

4.      Glorifying God through writing is wonderful

5.      Even if no one is reading I still have hope that my words could help someone

6.      It keeps my mind on the big picture of why God is putting me through struggles

And that’s all the reasons I have!

Thanks for reading,

Kirstin

Freebie Friday

Today = another bad day. That's my math lesson for today!
Hello lovlies! I love freebies and I also love designing pages for my "old fashioned" pen and paper planner. I came across this free printable from  www.perideaudesigns.com (well their blog anyway) and i used it as my inspiration to create this:

Now if you would like the file for this lovely weekly planner shoot me an email at kherbruck@gmail.com  and I'll give it to you!
Thanks for reading,

Kirstin

Recent Crafting

Well dear readers my POTS is in full flair up mode right now! Fall is always terrible for me because of that nasty ragweed allergy! Will you pray with me for all the other people who are suffering now as well? I know they would appreciate it immensely!
Because my dysautonomia is pretty bad I decided to make a belt yesterday from one of my favorite blogs, Ruffles and Stuff. Disney is so talented and has the cutest tutorials! Here's the link for the belt I made: http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/2010/02/scrunch-belt.html
This is what mine looks like:

 And now presenting my mom's favorite Bible verse! I made her this little print for the fridge!

Here are a couple different ones you can download! (I'm not sure how well they will come out but its worth a try!)



Thanks for reading,

Kirstin

Update

Hey guys sorry it’s been so long! God has been doing so much in my life lately I haven’t had a chance to write! I’ve been going to school every day! It has been great being able to be social and have a great finish to my senior year. I am also working at my family farm. I don’t think I mentioned this but my family owns a huge chicken farm. The ironic thing is that I’m allergic to eggs, so I work in the office doing all sorts of fun stuff. Most people would find it boring I suppose but I thoroughly enjoy anything that makes life normal. And my life sure has been more normal. It is truly and answers to prayer. Until next time my fellow bloggers!    

That's How I ended Up Here

Another question I get a lot is how I got diagnosed with POTS. Well this is a complex answer. Let me start by saying I switched from a public school to the private Christian school I attend now. At my school we do something called senior presentations. We explain how we have seen God in our lives and where we feel Him taking us. I was a sophomore when a girl presented her presentation for one of our chapel's at school. She explained how she was bogged down with these many symptoms and how she had gone to Mayo Clinic and had a tilt table test and was diagnosed with POTS. At this point I had gone from specialist to specialist for two agonizing years, all telling me these symptoms were in my mind. This was their way of saying "we don't know what's going on". When this girl was explaining what she had been through I thought wow that sounds a lot like me! I went home and asked my mom to set up an appointment with Mayo. Of course it was a while before I could get in, but I did. They did the tilt table test which was really easy and kinda fun being on a table that goes from a supine position to standing. My heart rate dropped and my pulse  raised a lot. That was all the proof they needed and I was diagnosed with dysautonomia or POTS. While the diagnosis was a huge relief my symptoms have continued to get worse.  I fully depend on God for everything in my life. I see how He is daily working through my suffering to bring me and others closer to Him. Its been over four years with my battle of POTS and God has done unspeakable things through my journey. I look back and wonder how I ever made it this far and there is only one answer, God. He truly is amazing and I am proud to be a child of Him. He continually shows His goodness to this day! You really can't make it though this without HIM.

Typical

So the title implies this is day two. I get a lot of people asking me what a typical day with POTS looks like. Keep in mind everyone is different, and this is no exception with this illness. First off les me tell you more about myself so you can understand more where I am coming from. First, I am a christian so most everything I do revolves around God. Second, I'm a highschool senior so i get to do all the sweet things in your last year before you have to "grow up". Third I have close knit family  so they are involved so much in my everyday life. And finally as you know i have a chronic illness so i'm limited. Now on with my day. A typical day for me consists of me waking up around noon (my body won't function any earlier). I will eat something. Then loaf around until my blood gets flowing right and I can walk without seeing stars! Then I get ready to go swim. By now it is around 1:30 and i'm still moving slow. THen i go swimming. swimming is one of the best ways to exercise for POTS patients. Dr. Grubb (POTS specialist) explained to me that because you are in a supine postion you blood flows better. He also told me that it is absoluty vital to excersie or you will never get over this horrible illness. OK so we just swam for around 15 minets and  we are headed back home from the gym. I go straight to my room and do my daily devotions and spend time with God. This is so important to me because i would never be where I am without the One who created me and knows everything about me on my side. I spend a long time doing devotions and just being with God. Then, if i feel up to it, I will go work on some school. I'm rather behind in this area. I haven't been ot a full week of school since the second week it was in session. I go to a private school that is amazing at working with me. The teachers and staff pray for me everyday! Prayers are so vital in this illness. I have seen God do amazing things in my life because of them. I start and end everyday the same way with a prayer and some sleep!
Thats what my day looks like! Thanks for reading!