The Holiday's

Today as I sat waiting for a pick-up order at Cracker Barrel for our 4th Annual Christmas breakfast for work...I calculated this Christmas as the 10th we have had missing a very special person in our family. I talked with Jolie while we were there and she assured me that "Uncle Bubba is watching us from Heaven"...it made me smile...we miss you Bubba...not a day goes by that I don't cherish the memories we made and find peace knowing that you are smiling upon us with Papaw, Justin, Jasmin, and Gerty...and many many more great souls that are not with us anymore here on earth.

I wanted to share 2 pictures of me with my nieces...the two sweetest girls I know. (Thanks Aunt Kay for grabbing the "All I Want for Christmas is My Auntie" shirts. They were a hit!

Someone in Canada Sporting JE Gear...

That's right...we have gone international!

Above on the right is Eva...sporting our 2007 Great Strides shirt, with Bubba's Rules of Life on the back. She has become an inpiration to me, and her journey is a miracle. She is the REAL DEAL, and just like Bubba did, rolls with every single punch, not taking a day for granted. This is what I adore of you Eva, and why I follow your blog daily. I wish you and my brother had the opportunity to meet, I know you would have been great friends. I feel honored to be able to read your story daily and know that you are smiling in Canada, despite your pitfalls, you are a FIGHTER!

To learn more about Eva and to follow along with her journey...you may want to start with these few entries...about CF and transplant.

65 Roses 9th Annual Golf Tournament Dinner

October 11th, 2009 marked the 9th Annual 65 Roses Golf Tournament Dinner at Lambert's in Fort Worth. Once again the food was excellent and the gals from the CFF did an awesome job to pull everything to together. Here are a few pictures from the event. Hope to be attending the 10th Annual 65 Roses Wine and Food Extravaganza next week...so stay tuned for more stories and pictures.











Ocotber 12th, 2009 was the Golf Tournament hosted by Mira Vista Golf Course, the weather was a little yucky, but overall cooperated, to see the teams through to the end of the day. Mom and I had a lovely time helping the CFF gals, and missed Mandy to pieces. Once, I know totals raised I will get those posted.

Stay tuned for upcoming news and events...we will be having the 2nd Annual Jeff's Entourage Benefit Concert this year...sometime in mid April, proceeds to go towards our Great Strides Walk.

Great Strides 2009

The Total is In!

Jeff's Entourage raised an outstanding and amazing total of $10,635.00 to go towards Cystic Fibrosis research and education...what an accomplishment we achieved this year. Huge thanks goes out to all whom raised money, walked, and supported the team this year! I know Bubba is smiling down from heaven...and is so PROUD!

Pictures to come!

5 Days and Counting...

I can hardly believe that walk day is so near...seems like yesterday I was just sending out the initial email to get our walkers signed up. Wow, what a journey Jeff's Entourage has had this year...we are so close to our $10,000 goal...and I'm optimistic that we will reach it!

Please stay tuned for a post on Thursday 6/4/09...this will be an opportunity for team members to help us reach our goal!

A Success!!! And Thank You's!

Jeff's Entourage hosted it's very first benefit concert April 17th, 2009. It was indeed a success. Thanks to J.Gilligan's for donating the perfect venue, and to Grant Jones and the Pistol Grip Lassos, as well as opener 17 Hands High, we raised a total of $4,684.00 for our team.

Pictures from the event for your viewing pleasure! Thanks Mandy for taking care of this for me, and all the candid shots, they are awesome!

A thank you goes out to Electric Sun and Rod Slack for your generous donation and the Live Auction tanning bed that went for $1,300...thank you again from the bottom of my heart!

Beer?

Huge Thanks to Beverly for her guidance through planning this event, and for Laura being there to enjoy the event. You ladies ROCK!

My TCU volunteers...minus 2, manning the silent auction. Thanks for your help guys!

Brandon & Leann

Rod & Ali

Tara, Lisa, & Shelly

Nothing but Good Times!

And Twins!

Silent Auction Big Board

Bob Austin - the lucky winner of the Pat Green guitar...went for $1,000...what an awesome contribution to the CFF!

Displayed Pat Green Guitar -- Thank you to Jon Hellberg for making this happen!

Thanks for being there Farrel, it was awesome having you as a guest speaker, you did awesome!

Me, Farrel, and Mandy

Sam D. & Vanessa

Me with My Awesome BF...special thanks to Drew for putting up with me while I was getting all this together...I know I can be a handful, but with you by myside I seem to stay pretty grounded. Thank you for keeping me sane...I love you babe!

New Friend's at J.Gilligan's

The Group

Headliner - Grant Jones & The Pistol Grip Lassos

17 Hands High

Thanks to all who were able to attend, and for those of you who couldn't but sent donations and well wishes in your place. It was very much appreciated, and I couldn't have pulled it off without all of your support!

Cystic Fibrosis Documentary Film

We have followed Eva off and on since we started this blog, 2 years ago. Now in the very near future there will be a documentary of her journey with CF and Double Lung Transplantation being shown at the largest documentary film festival in North America, Toronto's Hot Docs! The trailer for the film has been released, and I wanted to share it with you all.



Spread the word and raise awareness - a true tribute to the power of film and the internet!

Redefining the traditional scope of documentary film in an electronic age, 65_RedRoses leaves viewers with a new appreciation of life and the digital world. This personal and touching journey takes an unflinching look into the lives of Eva Markvoort and her two online friends who are all battling Cystic Fibrosis (CF) - a fatal genetic disease affecting the lungs and digestive system.

Unable to meet in person because of the spread of infections and super bugs, the girls have become each other's lifelines through the Internet, providing unconditional love, support and understanding long after visiting hours are over. Now at a critical turning point in their lives, the film travels the distance the friends cannot go themselves, capturing the compelling and often heartbreaking realities they face, just trying to take each breath.

Get involved by joining the facebook group at

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=60310687919

Your support will help bring this film to a theatre near you!

J.Gilligan's
(http://www.jgilligans.com/music-calendar.html)
400 E. Abrams
Arlington, TX 76010

Opening Band - 17 Hands High

Headlining - Grant Jones and the Pistol Grip Lassos

Cover $5.00 per person

Raffle Tickets - 1 for $5.00 or 5 for $20.00

LIVE AUCTION **Exclusive**
***We will be auctioning off an autographed Epiphone Guitar...signed by Pat Green!***


Raffle Items:
- 1G Ipod Shuffle
- $25.00 Gift Certificate to J.Gilligan's
- Gift Cards to Fuzzy's Taco Shop
- Barbeque Grilling Set
- Bath & Body Gift Set
- O'Reilly's Car Wash Set
*Several Raffle Drawings through out the evening.

**If you can't make it to the concert, but would like to participate in the raffle - please let one of the leaders know and they can get those raffle tickets to you. samantha.relien@charter.net or mandyblankenship@hotmail.com

Silent Auction Items:
- Overnight Stay at the Omni Downtown Fort Worth, and Dinner for 2 @ Reata
- Fresh Water Pearls accented with Black Leather and Sterling Silver; includes necklace, bracelet, and earrings. Beautiful set donated by Collection's Fine Jewelry.
- 3 Bottle Wine Tasting for 4 at Lightcatcher Winery
- Teeth Whitening System donated by Keith Metzger DDS with special thanks to Kelly West DDS.
- Tickets for 2 to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for a Thursday or Friday Concert with special thanks to Lisa McFall
- Laser Hair Removal from Ideal Image $500.00 value
- 4 Tickets to Ranger Game (2 rows up from Home Plate)
- 2 Tickets to Four Day Weekend (Good for any Friday Performance)
***Stay tuned for more Auction Items to be posted!***

We also are honored to have Farrel Amis as a Guest of Honor. She will be taking the stage at live auction time to talk a bit about CF, and what fundraising and support of individuals like us means to her. So we are excited that she will joining us for the evening, thanks Farrel!

All proceeds from the concert will benefit Jeff's Entourage, Great Strides, and CFF!

For those of you who will be unable to attend this event but would still like to be apart of the festivities and raising money towards this event, please feel free to make a donation online, every little bit counts, and we depend on people like you to help us reach our team goal each and every year. If you wish to make a donation by debit or credit card click on my widget below and select the "click to donate" button. If paying by check or money order, please make payable to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and mail them, along with a note indicating that the donation is to be credited to "Jeff's Entourage" Team Leader Samantha Relien, to the following address:

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
c/o Beverly James
1008 Winscott Road - Suite B
Benbrook, TX 76126



Look Forward to seeing you all there...getting all this together has been a long time dream of mine and it's starting to fall into place, and I'm wearing a grin from ear to ear, knowing that Bubba is smiling down upon me, and he is so proud. All I can say to you all...is that I do all of this for him, he is my ALL TIME HERO...and I can't tell you all, who have supported me through this journey enough, thank you for being there for me, my support system ROCKS THIS WORLD!

We got it...Autographed Pat Green Epiphone Guitar!

I have been a huge Pat Green fan from day one...so this is some what surreal for me...We will be live auctioning this bad boy off at the concert Friday. Don't forget, April 17th...J.Gilligan's!

Opening band 17 Hands High will go on around 9 PM, followed with the live auction, and then with our headliner Grant Jones and the Pistol Grip Lassos! 10% of food and beverage purchase will be donated to Jeff's Entourage...so I hope to see a huge turn out from our team.

Please contact me if you have any questions regarding the event!

Deep in Thought about JE Fundraising Goal!

So about this time of year, for the past 3 consecutive years we started raising money towards our Great Strides goal. It took several years after losing Bubba for us to get active again, so I feel as though we have to make up for all that lost time. As you all have noticed, we have raised our team goal to $10,000 this year. Rest assured I will not sleep until we have reached this goal for 2009. I hope to raise even more then the goal, and hopefully be in the running as one of the most raised teams this year. Yes, I know some of you may be thinking, "She is nuts, and will never reach her goal!" I just have one thing to say to that...."watch me!"


This fundraising event and journey, has become a huge part of my life, and just makes me smile when I'm alone thinking of Bubba, just knowing that I can do this for him. Yeah, my contributions now, won't help bring him back, but it will help me honor his memory in a way that I know he would be proud of me in. There are so many things in life that we look back on and say I wish I would have done things differently, and at 18 years old watching the one person in my life who had been there for everything, lose his life to a battle that he had no choice in, was the toughest turning point.

I regret not going and hanging out with him every opportunity I was given, instead being that teenager and doing my own thing. Now as an adult, I look back and say "Man if I had just done this with him, and gone there with him!" These types of things run through my head on a daily basis, even almost 9 years after losing him. I do believe that someone like Bubba is never forgotten, because he is thought about and missed by my family and close friends on a daily basis. He was...No doubt about it...the Best person I have ever meet!

I was talking to a JE team member the other day, and was telling her, that I feel as though this is the one thing that I can do to feel like I'm giving back to the time I lost with my brother, and in a way be active in a dream of his...to find a cure for CF!

Most of you don't know this, or have forgotten possibly, but Bubba was on the double lung transplant list...and man, I will tell you, when we went over to Dallas and heard that his name was officially added to the list...I had flashes into the future of him being here for all steps of my life. College, Marriage, Children, just growing up together, and he, Mandy, and I still having the opportunity to make the bond between us and Mom even stronger. In life, as I remember it, growing up, it was always us 4, and I cherish our memories, and longed that we would have that longer. I guess you can say, "I had false hope!" At that time though, it was the one thing that we had to grasp on to, and think that it did help us on the road to reality in the end!

So for all of you skeptics out there...who think I'm crazy and that there is no way that I will meet my goal...check back in June...and let me know what you think!

*Mom giggling at her crazy children in the background...and Mandy and I posing with Bubba after our glamour Shots in 1994 or 95'...time flies when you have hair that cool...oh, and I was sporting one of Bubba's old shirts, Mandy and I both were guilty of rolling sleeves and tying up shirts just so we could sport Bubba's clothes. Even though we were girls and 8 years younger...we always wanted to be just as cool as he was, even now!

Mark Your Calendar...April 17th

We will be having a fundraising event at J. Gilligan's, in Arlington, TX. Headlining the event; Grant Jones & The Pistol Grip Lassos. Details to come, but this will be an event that you won't want to miss...April 17th, 2009 at J. Gilligan's

Come One...Come All!

Proceeds to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Great Strides, and Jeff's Entourage!

For any team members interested in volunteering to help with this event, please contact me at samantha.relien@charter.net

You Found Me - Fray Lyrics

The lyrics to this song...just open up so many thoughts of wonder and questions of why things in life happen to good people. I just wanted to share the lyrics with all my readers and get their take on the meaning behind this wonderful song. The Fray has a way to put so many of my thoughts into their songs, it makes me wonder if I should have become a song writer... ;) Any how, I've just had a lot on my mind lately and this song helps me realize that I'm not alone!

I've also been missing my Bubba like crazy...he was always the one person I could talk to that would make life seem so much simpler. If that is at all possible. He just helped me see the sunny side of every situation. I just wish I could talk to him and hear his voice.

Lyrics