she's a queen!!!!

[gretchen_darren 67]

Don't know how many people know of the santacruzan festival.... But my fiance is a queen this year. :dance: :dance:

[Messybrownhair 251]

Aww I'm sure she looked lovely.. Hope you can bring your queen home soon

[Paul + Tonieta 4]

And I'm sure she's always been a queen by the way you talk about her. Congratulations and good luck hope that NOA2 comes along. Now its just official.

[PhilAmTx 14]

wow!!! i dreamed of that when i was a kid... ! she would be look so lovely with her gown and crown ... congrats and advance congratulations to you NOA2!!! best wishes to you king and queen... :star:

[new1 2]

Don't know how many people know of the santacruzan festival.... But my fiance is a queen this year. :dance: :dance:

awww, ive always wanted to be queen too.. but i just usually end up watching from the sidelines

Aww I'm sure she looked lovely.. Hope you can bring your queen home soon

your wedding website is awesome!!! great pics! look good together too :thumbs:

[PhilAmTx 14]

Aww I'm sure she looked lovely.. Hope you can bring your queen home soon

was looking at your wedding site! awesome photos! every womans dream to wear that wedding gown.. and im dreaming of that awwwww :whistle:

[gretchen_darren 67]

the celebration is monday the 30th. she found out the 21st and told me a few hours after knowing. I have contacted my manager for next weekend off 00 late request for memorial day weekend, just hope he allows it with this late of a notice. But think it is a good reason to go.

[jrmejia 31]

very nice!

[Messybrownhair 251]

Aww thanks! I would be more than happy to assist anyone who wants to make their own wedding website its so easy!

And to the OP, I think its real sweet that you are going to see her, she will look lovely! Post pictures for us

[southcalhog 43]

the celebration is monday the 30th. she found out the 21st and told me a few hours after knowing. I have contacted my manager for next weekend off 00 late request for memorial day weekend, just hope he allows it with this late of a notice. But think it is a good reason to go.

Congratulations to her and Good luck on your trip!

[~happyndinlove~ 540]

Congralations!!!

You two must be really excited. Especially your fiancee.

I know the queen always has to sell tickets, raise funds and spend money to win the crown. Been there done that. Even here in the States, same thing.

So how many girls did she beat out? What was her total tickets sold? :)

[gretchen_darren 67]

Still waiting for my manager's approval. It maybe Monday before I know.

I barely know anything about the santacruzan. I am taking crash courses on the roman catholic church.

Well, Maybe there was ticket sold, but I wanted no tickets. Just a fundraiser for the church is all I knew. I ended up getting hoodwinked into the deal. :bonk: I was mad, upset, angry at being used. But when I did research on it. Looked at what it meant. Knew she had been a reyna at 14, then knew this was her last chance. they wanted to give her a dream. Something no girl in their village had ever won. The village was asking me to help her achieve her dream. the village and padre were hoping I loved her enough to go beyond the "hoodwinking". the village and the padre "nominated" her. There were about 23 other girls, not quite sure on the exact number. One from each Baringay/purok at the parish with a chapel. The girl last year rose $4,000php. Gretchen - Queen Reyna Elana - rose $7,900php for the church and $4,000ohp for the chapel. Her dress, crown, makeup was another $2,000php. Yes, I did help. :help: After all, you can't let your girl down after she is nominated by her village to be "the Queen". :yes: If I failed, I probably would not be allowed back into the village. :no: I was told the padre was going to say a special blessing for me during the service. I told them to tell the padre not to. Say nothing about what I did. Everyone already knows or suspects, saying something would confirm it. Say nothing, absolutely nothing to the congregation. The padre can say a special blessing in his daily private prayers if the padre so chooses. I never knew how much it meant to her until talking to some of her relatives here and there. That is what made me decide to ask to go. I could have asked 6 or 7 weeks ago, but thought better of it, waiting for the approval for manila trip. The best news is I will hit elite status with PAL on this trip, then premier elite on the manila trip. When it comes time to bring Gretchen to the US, I will be close to 70,000 miles, maybe I get to bring her back "for free".

But I am not one to be trifled with, I have spread the word, the only thing I determined to do was support each girl from the purok/village or of my fiance's choosing each year for now on. Maybe next year, I will give $5,000php for each girl outside of the national highway area. Let them decide who wins. :rofl:

[~happyndinlove~ 540]

Well, Maybe there was ticket sold, but I wanted no tickets. Just a fundraiser for the church is all I knew. I ended up getting hoodwinked into the deal. I was mad, upset, angry at being used. But when I did research on it. Looked at what it meant. Knew she had been a reyna at 14, then knew this was her last chance. they wanted to give her a dream. Something no girl in their village had ever won. The village was asking me to help her achieve her dream. the village and padre were hoping I loved her enough to go beyond the "hoodwinking". the village and the padre "nominated" her. There were about 23 other girls, not quite sure on the exact number. One from each Baringay/purok at the parish with a chapel. The girl last year rose $4,000php. Gretchen - Queen Reyna Elana - rose $7,900php for the church and $4,000ohp for the chapel. Her dress, crown, makeup was another $2,000php. Yes, I did help. :help:After all, you can't let your girl down after she is nominated by her village to be "the Queen". If I failed, I probably would not be allowed back into the village. I was told the padre was going to say a special blessing for me during the service. I told them to tell the padre not to. Say nothing about what I did. Everyone already knows or suspects, saying something would confirm it. Say nothing, absolutely nothing to the congregation. The padre can say a special blessing in his daily private prayers if the padre so chooses. I never knew how much it meant to her until talking to some of her relatives here and there. That is what made me decide to ask to go. I could have asked 6 or 7 weeks ago, but thought better of it, waiting for the approval for manila trip. The best news is I will hit elite status with PAL on this trip, then premier elite on the manila trip. When it comes time to bring Gretchen to the US, I will be close to 70,000 miles, maybe I get to bring her back "for free".

But I am not one to be trifled with, I have spread the word, the only thing I determined to do was support each girl from the purok/village or of my fiance's choosing each year for now on. Maybe next year, I will give $5,000php for each girl outside of the national highway area. Let them decide who wins.

Darren:

I hope you don't mind me expressing a few thoughts. (Probably not worth very much but I still hope helps you out at least a little.)

1st....Did you get half the prize money?

IMO, I don't see a problem with the Padre blessing. I'm guessing every1 already knows what went down so, get the blessing and your family some props. You're a Kano dude and wether you like it or not, most think you can fart a Benjamin if you want to.

Avoidance- radar and navigation, confident humility, genuine courtesy-soft spoken / in action and learning how to say no in many different ways were "fine arts" that helped me more than a few times. Even still, I lost count of the multiple requests (from neighbors, friends, distant relatives and complete strangers) for this or that (which all cost $) and to make matters worse...Asawa ko's family took some of the brunt on my behalf. A few friends/ relatives turned to enemies bcoz they refused to let them make a formal request.

I'm not saying we did not ever contribute. We did and we do. (but) Almost every time, I have volunteered based on a "need" I saw or heard. In fact, one of my fav memories.. .the roads to our family's barangay were (pretty much always) in bad shape. I got tired of working the clutch and stick plus a few of the ruts posed a damage risk (to our SUV). I brought in truckloads of road gravel and with the help of the trucks and 10 hard working Pinoys, got those roads (relatively speaking) user friendly. The whole barangay was thankful, especially the jeepny drivers and mom/dad were very proud (which made me feel good) . Nobody had asked me to do that or even mentioned it. I did it coz I wanted to. My wife wasn't too happy about it but knew I was having fun so let me. I guess what I'm saying....do what you and your fiance want / agree and that's it.

Open and constant communication works for us. Oh, be careful about changing your mind once you commit to something, doesn't seem to go over that well.

Hope this helps out some. I enjoyed writing it coz it made the memory feel fresh again. I still (sometimes) ask if "my road" is in good condition.

Michael

Edited May 22, 2011 by ~happyndinlove~

[gretchen_darren 67]

hehe, thanks. I appreciate the padre's blessing, but IMHO, it doesn't do any good. It just shows people my fiance has a guy with "money". It is not what the competition is about. It is about a celebration in the church and how many people donated for the celebration. I am sure there are other people there who give more then me over the course of a year. And locally, I only give by cash, no envelope, no check, no credit card. I hate (and this is too tame a word for my gut feeling) the "respect" you get for giving to be tracked for deduction on your taxes. God has blessed me with a good paying job right now. But I have had days where finding two pennies was an accomplishment.

Yes, I do know how to say "no". Not a problem for me. This was one of those things where she asked me if she could compete. Of course, I said yes. (not wise to stir up a religious problem.) She had already been nominated by the village and was excited.

the nice part is, it is wonderful to help her family and in turn the village. My own family does not need my help, nor does my extended family want my help. In 1990, I gave my sister money for a new battery for her car, and she wanted to return the money. In 1994, I gave a car (mercury ln7) to my dad to tech my brother to drive, You think I was giving him a BMW or something. In 2006, I bought tickets for a scenic train ride in Arizona, cost me $400 but my parents did not want to go. I lost the money. In 2006, I offered to buy round trip plane tickets for Christmas for my brothers and sisters families to come visit Arizona. I got turned down. I finally gave up with my family after that.

My fiance's dad and I have an agreement, once I get her here, then I will turn around and buy him a boat. If I can afford it sooner I will, or if he can save from the money I send, that is fine as well. In buying him a boat and getting him some equipment, I turn his income from 500php a catch (half of the take, half goes to the bos'n, of which his half he shares with his 2 older sons) into 2500 php a catch (or better, he would get half of each person's catch on a four man crew, plus his own.) plus more runs with catches. He would have deeper nets. I appreciate what you are saying.

there is no jeepney back to where they live. At least not yet. If you want to go there, you HAVE to want to go there. It is not even a tourist area. From the local town, a round trip will cost you 110php. (70 php for bus, 10 php for 4km ride each way, 20 php (round trip fare) for raft and if a man, you help pull the raft. jeepney is a little cheaper, but you also pay to haul things.)

[PhilAmTx 14]

love is not measured by amount you spent or the money you gave... i know you are just trying to help..keep it up and God will bless you that way...