Final Casting: The 2015 A-to-Z Challenge Team Revealed!

Today, members of the 2015 Blogging from A-to-Z Challenge Team were announced. The team consists of bloggers who, together, are hosting this international blog hop in April.

As I am one of these Co-Hosts, it is my pleasure to welcome the return of Matthew MacNish at The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment as well as my fellow veterans and staff along with the addition of seven brave new members that make up such a diverse group of men and women united for the love of community, blogging and ABCs.

Signups for the challenge are scheduled to open in January 2015, providing enough time for early birds to join us as we party through the letters of the alphabet. Although we’re about four months (and some change) away from the A-to-Z Challenge, I encourage everyone to visit the blogs of our Co-Hosts to say  hi or offer a word of congratulations for being part of largest (that we know of) blogathon on the internet.

You Can View the 2015 A-to-Z Team Announcement on the A-to-Z Challenge Website. Additional information about our 26-day blog hop will be shared as it becomes available between now and April. 

Monday Movie Meme – Sunflowers for Tina #LifeisGood

“Turn your face toward the sun and the shadows will fall behind you.” - Maori Proverb

Today, the A-to-Z Team is hosting Sunflowers for Tina, a tribute of sunflowers posted in memory of our late Co-Host Tina Downey at Life is Good.

To honor her love of sunflowers, we are splashing the blogging community with photos of a sunflower that we’ve either purchased or planted to remember the woman who, in many ways, embodied the true meaning of what it means to be a great friend.

This week’s Monday Movie Meme is also centered on this tribute: Sunflowers for Tina. Share on your blog or in the comments section, movies featuring scenes where someone offers flowers to another person.

My selections for this week’s theme are pretty slim as only a few come to mind such as the scene where Carrie smashed her bridal bouquet of roses and gardenia during a heated confrontation with Big in “Sex and the City: The Movie,” the scene where Marisa puts a bundle of lavender on Caroline’s bed in “Maid in Manhattan” and of course, the famous scene where a businessman brings roses to his, um, lady friend while professing his love for her in “Pretty Woman.” That’s all I have at the moment.

Today is the day that bloggers around the world are joining us as we brighten the internet with sunflowers the way Tina brightened the lives of so many people. You are welcome to participate by sharing this post on your social media channels or posting a photo of a sunflower on your blog or Instagram page with the hashtag #LifeisGood – right now!

What movies have YOU watched featuring people offering flowers to one another?

Besides flowers, what reminders in YOUR life convey the message that Life is Good?

WATCH NOW:

Monday Movie Meme - In Memory of Tina Downey

Today I ask you to join me in dedicating this week’s Monday Movie Meme to the memory of my dear A-to-Z Challenge co-host, Tina Downey, who passed away on Saturday. It is a shocking turn of events that I’m still trying to soak in, understand, and accept.

She was a brave woman, mother, daughter, wife and friend who found ways to encourage us all through laughter and discovery, all while fighting her own battles with health on many occasions. Before this past weekend, no one could have told me she wouldn’t be returning home from the hospital. That was out of the question, given the type of person she was – a survivor who always took the time to remind us that Life is Good.

A few days ago, Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh (along with Father Dragon Al) suggested that we unite in prayer; using the power of many to send healing thoughts to Tina “for one minute (or more) daily, exactly at the hour specified for your Time Zone, so all prayers/thoughts come out in synchrony.”

To celebrate Tina’s beacon of light that reached so many people during her time on this earth, I am lighting a candle for her on Saturday and sharing a photo of it with my readers and social networks. I welcome you to join me by lighting a candle where you are, in the name of Tina Downey. Let’s keep her memory alive by showing that she was a beacon of light to those who knew and cared for her, for we are lucky to have been a part of her world – online and offline.

In the meantime, share on your blog or in the comments section, movies featuring scenes where people turned to prayer and/or healing practices during trying times.

Here are my selections for this week’s theme – A Time of Healing for the Downey Family.

John Q

A frightened mother prays for a miracle for her son; who is in the ICU in need of a heart transplant, in this crime thriller starring Denzel Washington and Kimberly Elise.

What’s Love Got to Do with It?

A battered singer finds inner peace and strength through meditative chants, in this biographical music drama starring Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne and Vanessa Bell Calloway.

May the Downey family be blessed.

May Tina Downey rest in peace.

Will YOU light a candle for Tina?

What movies have YOU watched that feature prayer or healing practices during trying times?