Our New Addition

Today, November 28, 2011, my nephew - Baxter Carpenter Waters entered the world! He is named after my maternal grandfather - H Baxter Carpenter who is 94. 

He is healthy and just a beautiful little baby! We are so excited that he is finally here!

One eye open

He's beautiful and perfect.

Proud Daddy!

Thankful Thanksgiving

Things I am thankful for now:

1. Work - I am so satisfied with my job. I am happy there and really enjoy the work and the people that I work with.
2. Jonathan - I am so thankful for his sweet spirit, his kind words and his encouragement. We have so much fun together!
3. Health - I am happy and thankful to have been healthy this whole year.
4. Family - I am thankful for the support and love they give me on a regular basis. I can't wait to spend time with them over the next 6 weeks as I get to know my new nephew and spend time with the rest of my family.
5. Friends - I am thankful for their continued encouragement. I'd especially like to call attention to a few close friends who continually encourage me, listen to me and make time for me in their lives: Melissa, Diana, Nick, Ashley(s), Megan and several new friends here in Knoxville
6. Healthy pregnancy for Ashley - And baby boy waters #2! Can't wait to meet him this weekend.
7. Spending time with my family over the Holidays. I can't wait to get home for Thanksgiving and then again for Christmas.

I am so grateful to Jesus for giving me so much to be thankful for. He is the real reason I have to be Thankful.

What are you thankful for this season?

UT Football

I went to a UT/Vandy game this weekend with Jonathan. We went down early Saturday afternoon and met up with my friend Nick and a bunch of his friends to tailgate. We went to the Vol Walk and then went to another tailgate with some of Jonathan's friends. It was a fun afternoon and evening. When we got in the game, it turns out that Nick was sitting a few rows in front of us and had open seats in front of them. So we moved down there after the first quarter and sat with them. After the half one of Jonathan's friends and his wife came and sat with us for the rest of the game. It was so fun! And UT ended up winning the game in Overtime. Such an exciting game!

Here's a few pics from the weekend!

Can Anybody pick out Derek Dooley's orange pants?!

This is us at one of the tailgates!

Weekend Update

This past weekend was pretty busy, but just really fantastic!

I went with Jonathan to the Lady Antebellum concert here in Knoxville to celebrate his birthday, which was on Halloween. 

We were SO close!

It was an awesome concert. They were fun, energetic and played for an hour and a half. The openers, Randy Montana and Josh Kelly were good. Interesting music tid-bit: Josh Kelly is Charles Kelly's brother. Charles Kelly is the lead singer for Lady A. Josh Kelly is also married to Katherine Heigl. I was really hoping she would be there with their beautiful little baby. They adopted a baby from South Korea two years ago. But I guess I just had to put up with some good music!! I got the general admission tickets because I thought that it would be more fun. We got there pretty early and even though we had to stand the whole time, it was worth it because we were so close! Here are a few other great shots from the night!

In this last photo - the whole band came out on this stage extension thing and played an acoustic set. It was awesome! One of my favorite parts of the night. 

On Saturday, Jonathan took me to DOLLYWOOD for the first time. He, of course, had been before, but I had not. It was fun! We spent the afternoon there and the weather was fantastic. It got pretty chilly after the sun went down and I was glad that we had taken jackets, hats and gloves. We got to see all the Christmas lights and the Christmas parade. And we had the most amazing warm cinnamon bread. It was like eating a cinnamon bun and they had cream cheese icing to go with it. It was a fun, relaxing weekend just because we really weren't on a schedule. Just what I needed. 

I can't believe that tomorrow is Thursday and that next Thursday is Thanksgiving. I am reminded of how much I have to be Thankful for. Once upon a time, this blog was about being Thankful. I plan to take some time over the next few weeks to re-read some old post and be thankful for all of the good things in my life.

I challenge you to take some time and reflect on the things you have to be thankful for over the coming week. Expect a Thanksgiving post next week some time.

Fall Photos - "The Girls"

Halloween Weekend

This past week and weekend has been pretty fun. At work we had a Halloween Contest involving set building and costumes. Our department decided to do Pirates! It was so much fun. Here's a few photos of our set and some people in our department and their costumes. I'm not sure who won yet, but should know tomorrow!

The front of our Ship.

The Ship and sails.

Sails, Ship, Cannons, Ocean, Pirates

Water, Waves, Ocean.

Skeleton Crew

Dock.

Most of our department. Pirates, Arg!

My pirate accounting team.

I spent the day Friday running around pirating and then Friday night, I went to dinner with Jonathan and his family for his Birthday, which is Monday - Halloween Day. We went to Longhorn Steakhouse and it was delicious. Friday night, I went over to Rob and Ashley's house for a party and then Saturday night I went with Jonathan and a bunch of my friends to The Freakers Ball. It was a lot of fun and there were some C-r-azy costumes there! We got home L A T E. It has really been a fun weekend. Tomorrow night, I am going to take Jonathan out to dinner for his birthday to Ye Old Steakhouse - a Knoxville tradition. I haven't been there before but it is apparently the best steak in town!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I feel like there's been so much going on but when I try to think of what it is that's been going on, I kind of draw a blank! I've enjoyed a few slow weeks - at work and socially. I haven't done much during the week and have been able to relax on the weekends here lately for the most part and that has been so nice!

This past weekend, my mom was in town. We went to Cumberland Caverns to Bluegrass Underground! It was so cool! I want to take Jonathan back down there because I know he would love it. It was kind of a long drive - a little over two hours - but well worth it. I did forget about the time changing so we were a little thrown off for an hour by Central Time. We saw Westbound Rangers and Mountain Heart. The Westbound Rangers were good and entertaining!  They were fun - told jokes and cut up the whole time! Mountain Heart was amazing! It is a group of very talented musicians! They were so much fun to just listen to. The banjo player had only his thumb on his left hand. He was an incredible player. He's the guy that organized the group. It was so awesome to hear him play and such a great reminder that we, as people, can do anything we set our minds to. He was amazing to watch and hear play. I didn't take my camera but will next time I go.

Definitely check out their website for some cool photos!