Chocolate Covered Pretzels Thank you Gift

Happy Saturday sweet friends! I hope that you are having a lovely weekend! 

Today I am so excited to share with y'all about a little thank you gift that I created (with my mom's help!) last weekend to give to some very precious people at the hospital where I am treated at every week.

Last week on IG I said, "Every serious illness journey is filled with hundreds of people who play such important and key roles in it. Words could never describe the gratitude I continue to have for each of you that are walking this difficult road with me" and it is so true. I know that the illness journey often seems long and lonely and in many ways it is. 

But recently I have been thinking that it the illness journey is actually very full. Full of people who are constantly giving their time, their energy, their best to help me in this critical time in my life. When I consider this I don't feel lonely, in fact, I feel overwhelmed with the way that love is full in my life.

My life is particularly full every single Monday when I spend a lot of time in the hospital as #courtneytheportney is specifically cared for and I am treated with extreme compassion. From the moment we arrive we are greeted with workers who park the car for us and always greet us with a smile and ask how things are going. I check in and I am embraced by the three receptionists who not only know my name and my story, but always have an encouraging word for this little heart of mine. When we need to make new appointments or change things around, the schedulers work so hard to help us, making us feel like we are the only patients that they deal with. 

And as #courtneytheportney is cleaned, watched and monitored and dealt with and accessed I am met with compassion. Compassion in listening to me tell "just one more story" from teaching days, of listening to me share about longings for a husband and kiddos, and support for the journey that I am walking. Even as I write this I have tears of gratitude running down my cheeks. Every single word of encouragement, smile, and laughter we have shared has been a precious gift to me on this journey. Every time that I have had a concern it has been met with wisdom and knowledge. No complaint or concern of mine has been dismissed lightly. These nurses and medical assistants have been in the trenches with me, helping me through.

 I am not exactly sure how you thank people who have had such an incredible impact on your life. Quietly and every single day they have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to help me and so many others in some of the most difficult situations in life. I can honestly say that I have never heard one cross word come out of their mouths to any patient and have only exuded calmness and respect for everyone. In many hospitals and situations I hear of people being treated like they are just "one more sick person" but that has never been the case here. I don't actually feel like a sick person in there, instead I feel like I am given the gift to dream beyond the walls and situation and the story to a future. 

So last weekend my mom and I spent some of Sunday afternoon having fun making these chocolate covered pretzels with spring colors. (We are still in the midst of winter here in the north so we are dreaming of spring days *smiles*) It was so fun and we loved the final results and we were so excited that every person we gave these goodies too saw our overwhelmed hearts of love and gratitude in this small present.

It was so much fun and it was very easy to do. Here are the supplies that we used for those who might be interested:

2 bags of Hershey's Dark Chocolate Chips

1 bag of Snyders "Old Tyme" pretzels

1 bag of Snyders Gluten Free Pretzels (these are the mini looking pretzels you see in the pictures)

May Arts Ribbon

Disposable Trays, Cellophane, and Cupcake Holders from Michaels in Spring Design

Wilton Sprinkles (Purchased from Michaels)

To make these adorable pretzels simply:

(1) Heat the bags of Hershey's Dark Chocolate Chips, mixing until the chocolate is completely melted (some people add 1 tablespoon of oil to help thin out the chocolate but we did not do this)

(2) Simply dip the pretzels into the chocolate and sprinkle on your sprinkles while the chocolate is still warm

(3) Let the mixture dry for approximately 1 hour

(4) We put the big pretzels directly on the tray and then put the gluten free pretzels in cupcake wrappers to keep them separated.

(5) Enjoy!

A huge thank you again to all of the nurses and medical staff that work so hard to help me in my journey and to those who are working tirelessly around the world to help patients. You are treasured!!

Happy Saturday again friends! I hope you have a wonderful day and weekend!