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Amy Freese | The Empty NEXTer

@the.empty.nexter

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💫Retiree | Wife | Mom | MAmy 🤍 Creating a retirement that fits YOU ✨ Purpose • Substance • Style ⬇️ Resources & Community

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In 1979, we had no idea where life would take us.

Careers.
Marriage
Children.
Grandchildren.
Heartbreaks.
Celebrations.

And more stories than we could possibly fit into one weekend... although we tried. 😅

We had plans to enjoy a night out but came up w/ a better plan; pj's all day...deciding laughing, reminiscing, and shenanigans was far more fun than anything happening outside our door. 😂

This weekend was a sweet reminder that friendship doesn't always look the same through every season of life.

Some friendships grow deeper.
Some grow quieter.
And some somehow manage to pick up right where they left off.

If there's one thing I've learned, it's to never assume your friendship story is over.

Same gals. Better stories. 🤍

Do you still keep in touch with childhood friends, or have you made meaningful friendships later in life? ✨

#theemptynexter
#lifelongfriends
#over50andfabulous
#retirement by @the.empty.nexter

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8

4 days ago

Today seems like the perfect opportunity to introduce you to the quintessential NEXTer in my life... my mom. 🤍

Today we celebrate her 86 young years, and what a life she has created.

While raising four children, she never stopped designing new chapters for herself, long before women were encouraged to follow their dreams.

She marched to the beat of her own drum, building businesses, opening shops, writing books, and creating opportunities for other women along the way.

She was an entrepreneur before it became a trendy term.

Most of all, she taught me that purpose doesn't come with an expiration date, and that living with passion, creativity, and joy fuels the soul.

Thank you for showing me what courage, resilience, faith, and perseverance look like.

I'm grateful beyond words that you were chosen to be my mom.Happy 86th Birthday. 🤍✨
#theemptynexter
#womenover60
#womentrepreneurs
#purposedrivenwomen
#livewithpurpose by @the.empty.nexter

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10 days ago

Yesterday I had the opportunity to share a message called The Common Thread.

One of the biggest lessons I've learned through life's many chapters is this:

Your purpose was never your position.

Your position was simply & is one of the places your purpose gets to live.

Careers change.
Roles change.
Seasons change.

But God's purpose for our lives doesn't come with an expiration date.

✨What's one gift, passion, or strength that has shown up throughout different seasons of your life?
#theemptynexter
#retirement
#retiredwomen
#newseason
#over50 by @the.empty.nexter

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12 days ago

Retirement doesn't remove your gifts.🎁

It simply requires finding a new place for them to live.

Maybe that place is volunteering.
Maybe it's mentoring.
Maybe it's creativity.
Maybe it's grandchildren.

Maybe it's all the above.

Where are your gifts showing up these days?✨

#theemptynexter
#retiredwomen
#retirement
#midlifewomen
#over50 by @the.empty.nexter

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19 days ago

How are you experiencing gratitude lately? 💫

Last weekend we celebrated a first birthday.🎉

This week we're celebrating a 60th.🥂

Somewhere in between there were family dinners, cakes, toasts, laughter, horse rides, fly-fishing lessons, mountain view's, + a whole lot more, oh, and a hubby who will probably never stop laughing while telling the bear story.
😂🐻😳

A few years ago I wasn't sure how I felt about this season of life.....

Today, my heart feels fully present in it.

Not because life is always picture perfect.

But because I've learned that creating a meaningful retirement doesn't suddenly appear.

It grows through community, contribution, creativity, living w/ daily purpose & gratitude.

Willingness to intentionally create a season that personally fits you from the inside out makes all the difference!

Because I struggled early on, the gift is that more cherished & makes me more eager to share with those who need encouragement opening theirs. 🎁

What's something you're grateful for right now?
🤍✨
#theemptynexter
#midlifewomen
#retiredwomen
#retirement
#over50 by @the.empty.nexter

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a month ago

Oftentimes, what we miss most reveals what matters most to us.

One of the biggest surprises of retirement wasn't the lack of work itself.

It was realizing how much I valued the things that work provided:
✨ Connection
✨ Contribution
✨ Community
✨ Purpose

Sometimes what we miss isn't a sign that we're stuck in the past.

I learned it can be a clue pointing us toward what we need more of in this season.✨

🎥 I share more about this in my newest YouTube video: "5 Things I Missed Most About Retirement (And What They Taught Me)"

Video found in my Linktree.

🤍What is something you've missed from a season of life you loved?

#theemptynexter
#midlifewomen
#retiredwomen
#retirement
#over50 by @the.empty.nexter

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a month ago

One of the biggest surprises of retirement wasn't stepping away from my 'job' on the daily at my family's business...

It was missing the people.

The conversations.
The leadership.
The opportunity to encourage others and make a difference every day.

For a while, I thought I was struggling to adjust to retirement.

What I eventually realized was that I was grieving a role I had deeply loved.

That understanding helped me begin finding my footing again & begin to feel like me again.❤️

✨ What has surprised you most about this season of life?

🎥 Full conversation on YouTube: 5 Things That Helped Me Feel Like Myself Again in Retirement.

Video found in my link tree- link not working in edits.😳

#TheEmptyNEXTer #retirementlife
#womenover50
#retirement
#retiredlife by @the.empty.nexter

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2 months ago

Are you missing a friend who got lost in life's busy shuffle of seasons?

Hubby's birthday week ended in the best possible way... reconnecting with a childhood friend he hadn't seen in over 40 years.

All because he made the call.

The red carpet was rolled out by his friend and wife. We were welcomed with a home-cooked meal, a comfy bed, and hours of catching up on stories.

As it turns out, his friend spent years working in real-life espionage. 😱 Naturally, I had a plethora of questions while wondering where the hidden cameras and wire taps were. 😳

The visit was topped off with a tour of his current work place, Oak Ridge (think Oppenheimer,) and more supercomputers than I knew existed.

Let's just say my engi'nurd' husband was in absolute bliss.
(maybe he'll agree to attend a fashion show, etc w/ me in the future. 😂)

Most importantly, an old friendship was renewed in this new season of life.

A good reminder that sometimes all it takes is one phone call.

☎️ Call that friend, friend! ✨
#theemptynexter
#retiredlife
#over50
#childhoodfriends
#retirement by @the.empty.nexter

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a month ago

Is your retirement full...or fulfilling?

My early years of retirement definitly looked full from the outside:

✨Travel
✨Home Projects
✨ Activities

But full and fulfilling aren't always the same thing.

Today's video is one of the most personal I've shared.💗✨

🎥 Link in bio

#theemptynexter
#retiredwomen
#retirement
#over50
#retired by @the.empty.nexter

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24 days ago

Have you ever looked at another retired woman and wondered what she's figured out that you haven't?

I definitely did.

Over time, I've come to accept that we're simply not all wired the same.

And a meaningful retirement, or any season of life for that matter, isn't one-size-fits-all.

For the longest time, I thought I needed to fit into what retirement was supposed to look like.

What I've learned instead is that the better questions might be:

✨ What am I doing that feels most like me?
✨Can I fit more people into my circle of friendship?
✨ Where am I contributing?
✨ What am I creating?
✨ What keeps showing up and tugging at my heart?

Those questions helped me stop comparing my season to someone else's and start paying attention to what actually fit me.

Not what worked for another woman.

Not what retirement was supposed to look like.

What fit me.

And honestly, that's where I began finding more joy and meaning in this chapter.🤍

If you could add a little more of one thing to this season, what would it be?✨

#theemptynexter
#retired
#retiredlife
#over50
#retirement by @the.empty.nexter

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a month ago

What is a gift, passion, or calling that seems to keep being woven throughout your seasons?💗✨

Both the month of August & seasons of life have continue to swiftly pass..

However, the thread in our tapestry of life oftentimes continues to follow us season after season.

A Facebook memory from 16 years ago stopped me in my tracks today.

At that time, I was hosting an internet radio show (pre-podcast's🤭) called DesignHer Living and I decided to take it out of the studio inviting women from my daughter's elementary school community to gather for an evening of inspiration.

Women shared their creativity, local business owners, & a charity leader shared their stories.

Together a space was created where women could learn,connect,and be encouraged.

Looking at these pictures, it wasn't about what I had done back in the day...

Instead, they revealed what God continued to have me repeating from one season to the next.

Encouraging women. Creating community. Sharing stories.

The platform changed. The season changed. The vehicle changed.

But the thread has remained. 🪡

Wishing my top still remained too..😅

#theemptynexter
#retirement
#over50
#retirementlife
#womenover50 by @the.empty.nexter

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2 months ago

One of my favorite things about getting older is caring less about what I'm "supposed" to wear and more about what feels like me.

Our recent return to Chicago, where our story began, gave me the perfect excuse( not that I needed one 🤭) to pull out the mixed prints, statement pieces, and a few outfits that simply made me happy.

At this stage of life, style isn't about dressing younger or disappearing into the background.

It's about dressing with confidence and embracing who you've become.

Because if retirement has taught me anything, it's this:

✨ This NEXT chapter isn't about shrinking.
✨ It's about showing up fully as yourself. 💗✨

What's one style "rule" you've happily left behind?
#theemptynexter
#midlifewomen
#stylediary
#over50style
#retiredlife by @the.empty.nexter

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4

2 months ago