Happiness.

We did it! We tied the knot in the Manti Temple on May 23rd. It was absolutely the best day of my life, and I couldn't be happier to be starting a new life with my new (wonderful) husband.(I'll post more pictures soon, I promise...I'm just waiting to get them back from the photographer)

Since then, we have been in for a wild ride! I'll post a brief timeline of our lives, post-marriage.

May 24-31: We honeymooned on a cruise that stopped in Progreso and Cozumel Mexico. The weather was great and the ship was so relaxing. It was great to not have to worry about anything...no cooking or cleaning or working. One of our favorite things was that the housekeeping staff left a towel animal in our room every evening. We also had a great time on the beaches of Progreso and Cozumel. In Cozumel we got to drive a dune buggy to a remote beach and snorkel. It was a blast! We also just loved lounging on the deck.
May 31: We got back from our cruise just in time for our open house at the Leininger residence in Texas. It was beautiful, and it was great to see all the Texas friends and family. We spent the next day hanging out with Jon's family, and we had a blast. We wished we could have stayed longer.
June 2-4: We flew back to Utah to pack up our things, say a few last goodbyes, and load the U-haul. I don't remember much of what happened in the days we were there besides cardboard boxes and junk food, but we apparently accomplished what we set out to do.
June 5: Moving day! We got up early, hugged my family goodbye, and started our journey east. This was the worst day of the trip...we were on the road for about 15 hours. Jon drove the whole way and was a trooper about it. We finally reached our stop in Omaha at about 11:30pm. It's amazing how tiring it can be to sit in a car all day!
June 6: After a good night's rest in Omaha, we spent the day with Lisa and the boys. We went to the Omaha Zoo, which is excellent, and had a fun time hauling around the twins and little Benjamin. That evening, after a great meal (Lisa spoiled us!) we all headed to Nauvoo, and got in around midnight. Jon and I checked in to the Hotel Nauvoo, a historic home that has been transformed into a hotel. It was small but really cute, and was our home for two nights.

June 7: We saw the sights in Nauvoo, starting with a wagon ride through the historic part, and then met up with Lisa, Bill and the boys for lunch. Our favorite was the brick yard because we got a free Nauvoo brick. After lunch, we drove to Carthage, which was a really incredible experience, and then we attended the Nauvoo temple, which was probably the highlight of the entire trip. It is absolutely beautiful, inside and out!

June 8: We went to church in the morning in Nauvoo, and then we headed for Indianapolis, Indiana to visit Joseph and Megan who are working there for the summer. We had a great dinner with them, and took a fun trip to a river and an artesian well near their apartment. It was a great stop!

June 9: We packed up our air mattress, and headed for Kirtland, Ohio. We went on a tour of all the Church's historic sites, like the Newel K Whitney store and the School of the Prophets. I really liked the ashery and the lumber mill too. We got there too late to tour the Kirtland Temple, but we walked around the outside. We stayed in a Day's Inn that night. I wouldn't recommend it.

June 10: We headed downstairs to a continental breakfast that was by far the worst one I have ever seen. To top it all off, another guest spilled an entire pitcher of milk, the image of which will be forever engraved in my mind as a white tidal wave covering Jon. It was sad but hilarious. We got out of there as soon as we could to start the last leg of our journey. The trip was punctuated with anxious phone inquiries about Maria's labor process, which only served to make it more exciting. We arrived in Baltimore sometime after 4pm, went straight to the leasing office, and signed a year lease on an apartment that we had been looking at. It was about 100 degrees out, plus humidity, but we somehow hauled all of our earthly belongings to our second story apartment, just the two of us. In the process, we made friends with our downstairs neighbor, Byrne, and his cat, One-eyed Willy (I added the "one-eyed" part to his name, but he deserves it...he really has one eye).

June 11-14: We began the "moving-in" process on little sleep...at 3:30 am our time, we got a phone call that Maria had given birth to Brooklyn Marie Oka. We were so excited that the lack of sleep didn't bother us. I can't wait to go see her! We have been unpacking, shopping, and acquiring furniture. We came here with zero furniture, and through many great blessings known as Ikea, Wal-mart, Value City, and especially Craig's List, we have now fully furnished our 2-bed 2-bath apartment for under $1500. It's been amazing to see things come together so quickly and so econimically. I LOVE our apartment, and it is really starting to feel like a home.

June 15: We attended church in our new ward, the Chesapeake ward, and felt very welcomed. It is a really diverse ward, and we are excited to make new friends.

June 16: Jon's first day of work at Lockheed-Martin. Since we currently only have one vehicle, and since I am looking for a job, I dropped him off at 8am, and kissed him goodbye. I then proceeded to spend a very long nine and a half hours by myself. My only human contact was with the customer service help line at Target.com where I ordered a vacuum. But absence makes the heart grow fonder, and we had a great dinner and first FHE in our new home together.

June 17: Pretty much a repeat of yesterday, except I went to Wal-mart and didn't fall asleep on the couch for two hours. And I applied for some jobs. We'll see how that goes...Hopefully this has been an adequate update. More to come on our adventures in the great state of Maryland. Tonight's exciting activity? Discuss and sign up for health insurance!