Category "Experiences"

Hand Prints on Canvas Best Friends Gift Idea

Queen Darlene - March 11, 2014 - Birthday, Business, Christmas, Experiences, Kids

I am blessed to have life long friends. It’s a trait I copied from my mom. She attended the Oklahoma School for the Deaf and stayed in contact with many of her friends throughout her lifetime. While growing up, I watched her write and receive mail from her friends from all across America.

I moved to Oklahoma from Texas on my 12th birthday. Mother enrolled us in school and instructed us to “go and make lots of best friends.” We did and she encouraged us to stay in contact with our old friends in Texas. I am forever grateful for her wisdom in keeping and making new friends. You can never have too many!

Nancy is my Oldest BFF (Best Friend Forever)! We met in second grade and have known each other for 54 years. WOW! That’s a long time. We have been exchanging birthday gifts for most of those years.

This year, I came up with the idea to have our hand prints together on a canvas. One problem – I live in Oklahoma and she lives in Texas. Continue Reading

POP the Question Wedding Proposal Idea

Queen Darlene - February 6, 2014 - Experiences, Valentine's Day, Wedding

Survey says….six million people are planning or expecting a marriage proposal for Valentine’s Day. Ohhh…..the pressure of how to propose? Ask the love of your life to marry you in grandiose style? Or just pop the question?!

Every girl has the “dream” of how the proposal will happen and it is never what we expect when it does. My husband, Randy, and I had many talks about getting married one day. We even looked at rings at the mall jewelry stores where I showed him my favorite.

But we were broke! Randy had one more year of college. I was graduating high school and planning to attend the same college. So I was not expecting a ring any time soon.

The Gift of Song | Family Recording Studio Session

Queen Darlene - December 24, 2013 - Birthday, Christmas, Experiences, Family, Father's Day, Kids, Mother's Day

When Judy, a co-worker of mine, had her grandchildren visit her, she planned all sorts of events for them to do. One of them was a private recording studio session at my oldest son Dustin’s recording studio. He had just started his home recording studio business at the time.

Gift of Song Family Recording Studio Session Gift Idea

Dustin hangs out in his recording studio.

Judy’s granddaughters had the time of their life recording in the studio, singing into a mike with headsets on, and making a real CD. They thought it was the coolest experience ever! What a story to tell their friends and family back home. They gave a copy of their newly released CD to their parents who cherished such a unique gift!

The idea of recording a CD led another co-worker, Tiffany, and her family to record Jingle Bells for their grandmother who lived in a different city. Practice began at the studio because there were lots of starts and stops, goofs and giggles, and funny family fodder during the recording session.

Jesus Candy Cane Poem | Great Gift for the Elderly

Queen Darlene - December 18, 2013 - Christmas, Experiences, Family, Party Favors

Several years ago, my brother-in-law’s mother was living in an assisted living center. It was during the Christmas holidays that I stopped by for a visit. I brought with me a basket full of Red & White Peppermint Candy Canes.

Attached to each one was the Jesus Candy Cane Poem. Orean, who was in her 90s, read the poem and said she thought she had heard every Christmas story told but this was a new one. See… you’re never too old to learn something new!

She asked me, “Why so many?” I told her they were to share with all of her friends at the assisted living center. Her eyes opened wide and a smile came across her face. She immediately started handing out the candy canes to the residents and staff who passed by her door.

“Merry Christmas!” Orean would say to each person, hand them a candy cane, and instruct them to read the poem. For someone who read her Bible every day, it made Orean light up with joy to share a Christmas treat and the Lord’s message with all of her friends and neighbors.

Refillable Advent Calendar | Christmas Family Tradition

Princess Diana - December 3, 2013 - Christmas, Experiences, Kids

Something I’ve learned about myself. I enjoy starting family traditions. Years before my husband Kevin and I even started our family, I already had several family traditions on stand-by.

One of them was a refillable advent calendar. I wanted to be able to customize the treats inside for my family each year. Plus, advent calendars started as a German tradition and since Kevin’s side of the family (their last name is Jaeger) is from Germany, it seemed like a perfect fit! It’s also a fun way for the entire family to count down the days until Christmas Day.

I bought a wooden advent calendar with larger compartments so I had more flexibility with the size of my treats. I specifically picked this one though because it shows the Nativity Scene – a wonderful reminder of what Christmas is supposed to be about.

For treats, I like to include a variety of edible treats, small gifts, quotes and family activities. The activities I write down on cute paper.

Nostalgia of Owning a Volkswagen Bug

Queen Darlene - November 30, 2013 - Anniversary, Birthday, Business, Experiences, Father's Day, Gifts for Him

My boss Dennis and I have compared many stories of our Volkswagen Bugs we drove during our college years. There was no better car for poor college kids. They were inexpensive to buy, inexpensive to maintain, and inexpensive to fill up with gas. The key word here is inexpensive! And when other fancier vehicles were stuck in the snow, the Bug could travel on by.

My boss Dennis gets ready to drive down memory lane in his Volkswagen Bug rental car my co-workers and I bought him as a Christmas present.

The nostalgia of owning a VW Bug is a strong and wonderful feeling. Imagine giving someone the gift of reliving such a feeling!

We did just that for Dennis. Last year for Christmas, my co-workers and I gave our boss a VW Bug rental car for the weekend. After locating a rental car service that had a VW Bug, we had to be flexible with the timing.

You can rent a car anytime, anyplace but asking for a particular vehicle, you may have to wait for availability. Thankfully, a couple of weeks before Christmas, the rental car service called that a VW Bug had become available. Perfect!

An Aloha Christmas | A Surprise Family Vacation

Queen Darlene - November 29, 2013 - Anniversary, Birthday, Christmas, Experiences, Kids

Our family tradition is to open presents on Christmas Eve. But in 1998, we opened gifts a few days earlier. We told our children there were family members going out of town, and they would not be here for Christmas. Luckily, they did not ask which family members because it was US!

For weeks, I had shopped for summer clothes in the winter. Not an easy feat trying to find bathing suits because Internet shopping wasn’t really a thing yet back then.

My sons parasailing over the ocean.

I purchased brand new suitcases for my two boys and packed shorts, t-shirts, snorkel gear, beach towels and sunscreen. On top of that, I placed what I wanted my children to first see – brochures and airline tickets of where we were going to be on Christmas Day!

That evening at my in-laws, we did the usual holiday ritual of eating, visiting and opening gifts. We had our children open their gifts from us last. When they opened their presents and found suitcases containing clothes, they were puzzled. The look in their eyes said, “Uh, what’s this? Clothes? Really?”

We all know 17 and 13 year old boys hate getting clothes of any kind. For any occasion.

I couldn’t believe they missed the brochures of beaches and surfers!