After years of writing (here, in my journal, and in my millions of half-finished notebooks around the house) about life with kids and navigating their baby years, tween years and teenage years, it’s finally here: the dreaded “empty nest.”

We dropped Number 3, Catie, at the University of Arkansas in August. (Side note, I am now so experienced at the dorm move-in process that we did not even require a single Target run with this last drop off. I had everything – from the Command hooks to the rubber mallet to a toolkit to the mattress topper. ALL OF IT.)

Each of the 3 are now spread around the Midwest – hours apart – settled into their campuses and lives and classes. And I’m left here with a lot of extra time in the evenings. It’s definitely the schedule – the rhythm of a school year, defined by August through May – that I miss the most. Each month of high school was marked out in sports, school events, volunteer jobs, kids in and out of the house, and lots of meal prep. After years and years of go-go-go, the fall afternoons and nights are very quiet. Enter my very intentional effort to find new things to be grateful for.

Gratitude point 1: Time to run.

I do better when I’m busy, so I signed up to run a half marathon in November, after swearing that my long race days were over. When my schedule revolved around the school day and evening sports, I always had to run in the early dark mornings. But with nothing to do in the late afternoons, I’ve discovered training runs during gorgeous October evenings and they have been super therapeutic. For the first time in my life, I’m running in the afternoons and evenings and I love it.

Gratitude point 2: Time to explore new places.

We’ve visited each of the kids’ campuses for football games, family weekends and Homecoming, and discovered all the fun, funky and beautiful things about the cities our kids call home. There are so many fun coffee shops, restaurants, outdoor spaces and shops.

Annie helped build a Homecoming float, so we saw the parade in downtown Waco, Texas, and visited all the fun Magnolia spots.

Razorback football games have provided the opportunity to see Arkansas, and meet Catie’s new friends:

And the weekend I moved Will into his apartment in Evanston I explored the paths and parks along Lake Michigan. Will’s apartment is just a block from this beautiful view of the lake:

Gratitude point 3: Time to read and reflect.

I’m reading a book about living fully in the present, without fear or anxiety for the future, or crippling nostalgia for the past. It’s got great passages about how to live the life God calls us to, and I’ve taken the time to soak in the lessons.

I’m still in transition, deciding how best to spend my time in the next few years. For today, I’m focused on gratitude for the new experiences, and just learning to be comfortable in the transition time – missing the good old days behind me, but trusting that more are ahead.