This morning it was foggy, with a crescent moon on the horizon as well. Enjoy. All photos, by me. ~nrl ♥

      While living in Nebraska, I lived on the 4th floor (a new experience).  I found it so fascinating how the neighborhood looked ... from 'above the treetops'.  Often, I took pictures from my windows, during thunderstorms, at sunset or when I saw awesome clouds.  Often the photos I took 'appeared' to be the horizon, as if I were standing on ground level.
      Now, living in Tennessee, I live on ground level, and here I am surrounded by trees as tall, or taller than the tops of the trees I shot, from the 4th floor, in Nebraska.  I could put photos side by side and you probably would not be able to tell the difference.
      Perspective ...
      The other day, we had two straight down rain cloudbursts, with amazing clouds, before the rains so here are a few pics, through the rain.  Enjoy these two short slideshows!  All photos, by me.

~nrl ♥

I have recently relocated from Nebraska, to Tennessee.  I've only been here about ten days and am fine with being a 'damn Yankee', and plan to stay, haha ... thank you to those who 'truly' believed in me, and my choice to be here. There were few who knew, ones I could trust; special thanks to those few. This was a 'God' thing, not an accident. I would not consider prayers, true friendship and opportunity ... as brick walls, which is what I had until recently.

​I heard of my ex-husband's death on June 23; it was a 'sign' for me, to move on now and take care of me.  A few weeks' before his death we discussed many things and we came to a place of peace, with each other and our lives together over the years.  He had told me I needed to go find that 'spot' to give me peace I so richly deserve.  We did not divorce because of lack of love (long story).

Instead of sharing the challenging and crazy backstory of even getting here, I am going to share the wonderful visual eye candy and fun positive stuff.  Back stories, later.  Enjoy. ~nrl

First of all, 'Merry Christmas', 2019!
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      Secondly, I want to thank family and friends who have been a great source of encouragement and love, during tough times I've shared.  It's been a challenging few years for me, and loved ones.  Your kind words, love, grace (giving and accepting), and prayers are elements of stitching us together, as humans.  I don't dare attempt a list, surely I would forget someone.
      As many of you know, I am 'dark' on Facebook ... and have been since early-September.  It's a mixed-up year and holiday season for this gal, this year.  Although the entire family is affected, I can only speak for myself.  You know who you are ... heart-to-heart hugs ... love ... peace.
      The last quarter of the year has had such an impact, it's the main focus of my entire year.  It all started on Labor Day weekend.  My birthday is August 29th, a few days before the holiday weekend.  My daughter and I laugh because she seldom 'remembers' the 'exact' date ... so she adopted the habit of calling me (early or late, depending on what date she remembers) early in her day.
      This year, a couple days passed; it struck me odd that I hadn't heard from her, this year. Something felt not quite right, but I tried to chalk it up to other family drama she was dealing with at the same time.  Mid-morning on Saturday, the phone rang (yes, I have a landline).  My caller i.d. reflected a phone call from a 'county' number (other than the one I live in), and it was a Saturday.
      Generally speaking, most government-related offices are not open on Saturday. The voice was unclear, somewhat confusing to me.  The voice spoke again; it was my daughter! When someone is incarcerated, there is always a 'gap' between getting the call and connecting to the inmate. For those who listen to their intuition, I knew 'something' was definitely 'amiss'.
      She, shakily, uttered to me, "Mom, I need a lawyer; I shot him (in the knee)!"  Unlike most mothers, I was sad, but not surprised. My daughter has been enduring emotional and occasional physical abuse, for nearly their entire decade of marriage.  She felt, this time, she may not survive; she was in fear of her life. She was defending not only herself, but her children.
    I've seen her take his abuse ... over and over, though the years. I knew, but she would always have an 'excuse', always defended him because she wanted to be a 'subservient wife' and keep her family together, continuing to withstand his abuse. Of course, as in any victim of abuse, they defend their abuser either out of fear or distorted 'love'.
      I spent the entire Labor Day weekend trying to find a lawyer who would respond on a 'holiday weekend'.  The only man of integrity and empathy to return my call was very well known in this valley; perhaps he returned my call because he's semi-retired. No matter, thank God for this man, this particular weekend.  My main focus was Kama; on Sunday I did go to the church where I knew my grandchildren were with the pastor, and his family.
      The beginning of this journey began on such a good note, considering ... however, since the domestic abuse situation, her attorney has passed on, so everything about the cases are behind. She had to retain a new lawyer.
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... life goes on ... and, thankfully, with my daughter still alive. ~nrl
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      Rather than write about what I just read, I am going to share a recent communication for me, to one of my posts.  I will expound on it, later.

​Hi there , 
I was reading your page here pearlynuggets.weebly.com/blog/short-tough-tongue-twisters-a-z, and I saw you were mentioning englishclub.com.
I have to be honest, I'm not a native English speaker, but this site helped me a lot with learning English - so I'm happy other people are recommending it! :) 
As for a recommendation, I wanted to share mine with you as a way of thanking you for sharing englishclub.com. 
I recently found online a funny article about the English language (which made a lot of sense to me, as a non-native), and I'm pretty sure it will speak to your users as well.
Here it is: https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/talking-aloud-talking-allowed-watch-write-make-sure-right/ 
It's about homophones and all these English words that can sometimes lead to mistakes when the context is unclear :) 
I think it would be a nice addition to your page, would you decide to share it there with your users. 
I hope this is relevant 
Best, 
Alejandra
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      A few days ago, while at the local Goodwill, I glanced through the book section.  I enjoy 'smaller' hard back books, of quotes.  As I flipped through the pages of one book, it seemed to be full with short, and to the point, pieces of 'wisdom'.  There are just a few words to a few lines of comments, not necessarily famous quotes.
      Today, I looked closer at this book and was actually a bit amused, and a bit offended, to be honest.  I will post the photos, then finish my comments.
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      This book is very similar to an '8 Ball', the one you ask a question, then turn it over and it gives you an answer.  Now, I fully understand the catchy title for this little book, 

What a fun evening with OK Sisters, fans, and friends.
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♥ VIDEOS - in no particular order.  Enjoy! ~nrl