My Shining Reflection #atozchallenge

This is the post where we reflect on the happenings of the 2015 A to Z Blog Challenge.

I woke up far too late in this challenge.  I decided literally the day before the challenge was to begin, to take part.  I was number 1098 on the list!

It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but I knew my decision was the right one.  I knew what I was getting myself into because I've done the A to Z Blog Challenge 4 times previously.  It's hard work and if you don't plan and schedule posts, it becomes extremely stressful, especially being a working mum with a very busy life.

I had to write posts at night after the kids had gone to bed.  Being creative after 9pm at night is hard for me.  I'm not a night owl, I'm an early-to-bed gal so I took strain because I didn't get as much sleep as I used to. 

I never really thought why I took up the challenge at first, because I hadn't been blogging for months on end and I had no intentions of starting it up again.  I stumbled on Alex's blog and the list to sign up for the A to Z Blog challenge.  This was the day before the challenge started, what was I thinking?!?!

It was only on the 3rd of May that it became clear to me why things had happened this way.

Today, on the 3rd of May, I went to the A to Z Blog Challenge website to find the linky for the Reflections post.  I read the post about Tina, the sunflowers and her passing.  I was shocked at first.  This was the first time I'd heard about Tina's passing. 

This was also the first time, I'd realised that this year's challenge was dedicated to Tina's passing and the sunflower post touched my heart.  I slowly read about the planting of the sunflowers, it blooming on Day #1 of the challenge and how things unfolded.  This story both warmed my heart and made me sad, because this is how I found out about Tina, but then it hit me.  I suddenly realised why I'd signed up in the first place.

RIP Tina.  My A to Z Blog Challenge was for you and I didn't even realise it until today.  My nostalgia theme was so appropriate and I'm glad to have been a part of this Challenge!  There always is a deeper meaning for getting involved in something like this - even if you don't realise it initially

Here's the stats:  I only gained 5 new followers, but I'm putting that down to the fact that I didn't have enough time to visit and comments as many blogs as I wanted.  I am now following 10 new blogs thanks to the challenge.

an incredibly significant challenge.