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  1. With my 3rd of my 5 children having left for college a couple weeks ago, this is a good reminder to look forward in my life. Thank you.

  2. Thank-you so much for the list! I had a “before I turn 50” list, and the “before I turn 60” list is growing. However even though I mentally start writing down stuff I would do once the kids were gone, but I haven’t written them down on paper. But I think I’m going to need to be much more specific so I don’t go into panic mode, haha. For example, #1 Day 1: Don’t panic! Pray for wisdom, take a deep breath. 2. Week 1. Work in your garden 2 hours a day for a week, that will make you too tired to panic. 3. Week 2: Book hang gliding lessons for you and your husband. Thanks for the ideas, I love your list.

    1. Your specific details brought a smile to my face, Charli, as they reminded me of a similar list my husband once made. Back in his 20’s, he decided that (among other things) he would begin taking one children’s aspirin a day when he turned 50, and that once he retired, he would garden from 8:30-10:30 every morning and would write from 1:00-4:00 every afternoon. He just turned 45 on his last birthday, so we still have some time for those goals to change, but last time I checked, that was still the plan.

  3. Jennifer…great post for me today. Our oldest is getting married in 10 days and I am pondering in my heart all of it. It is a bittersweet time for me. I will miss his constant presence in our home but love the journey is embarking on. We will still have two children in the home a little bit longer but our empty nest days are just around the corner. I never thought about making a list but I will have to pray about that. Thank you for linking up at Monday’s Musings at What Joy Is Mine. :o)

    1. We have two graduating from college next month. I am so grateful they attended a university close enough to live at home, but I am really cherishing these last few weeks together.

  4. stoppping by from Ann’s…yes I know this well…I have 3 grown and gone…one graduating this year and that leaves us with just one left at home. I call us half nesters…learning to live here…continuing to find life and ways to live life fully at each phase…God keep reminding me…different is bad…it just different. blessings to you as you transition toward this new phase of life.

    1. No, different is not bad, just different… but I still tend to resist change. Yet change is obviously part of God’s plan, and we must learn to accept that fact with joy and gratitude.

  5. My nest is still very full, our children being 9-14yrs. But the time has most definitely ticked by so fast. It is such a bitter sweet thing.

  6. I love this – I have tweeted and FB’d it – I, too, felt the sting of time the second my firstborn was in my arms. In fact, when he was just 4 days old it was New Year’s Eve and my husband began to cry. I asked him why he was so sad and he replied, “do you realize how quickly time will pass? In 18 years he will be an adult and will move away!” …I can laugh about this now that our oldest is 23, but there have been so many tears along the way. I LOVE that you have made this list, and I am going to take a page from your blog 🙂 and do the same. What a wonderful distraction to mark the passage of time – after all there is nothing better than parenting (okay, maybe not for everyone, but for me, lol) but coming up with and implementing these lists will be a good distraction!

      1. LOL, part of me says “bring it on” and the other part says, “no, wait, just a little more time!” 🙂 Of course, my oldest is 23 so I can afford to wait 🙂

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