Getting (same sex) married in Iowa, part 1 and upcoming events

[catherineldf]

We toddled down to lovely Decorah, Iowa on Monday with our pal Rebecca as our witness. Decorah is home to Luther College, among other things, and has a charming little courthouse. The county recorder was amiable and cheerfully co-operative as we took pictures of the room, each other, the papers, the pens, etc., etc. (I have been forbidden to post these on pain of terrible consequences but we'll see what we can do). We got to fill out our application as "Spouse and Spouse," which we found adorable and useful as we were both iffy about the bride and groom thing. We paid our fee and that was that; the license is due to show up in the mail any day now. Jana and I smooched under the stain-glass ceiling and no one paid us any mind, apart from saying "Hi." Rebecca pronounced us "cute" and thus we were a small part of LGBT history.
Next up, we have to go back down for the ceremony; we've got our officiant and witnesses lined up and things are starting to come together, slowly. :-D

Post licensing, it was off to the very interesting Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum which has a large and worthwhile collection of miscellaneous artifacts including some beautiful furniture and fiber arts. Then we popped in and out of various establishments on the main drag through town. I was asked why we were in town at one establishment and I sprang the whole "We just got our marriage license!" thing. There was a certain amount of polite twitching but no one swooned or shrieked and we were urged to enjoy town, which we did. On the way home, we stopped off at the fabulous Seed Savers Exchange which is a working farm and seed bank for an amazing variety of heirloom veggies, fruit and herbs. They're also preserving and restoring several breeds of chickens and White Park Cattle (the prettiest cows, ever!). I scored a fun looking book on making unusual preserves and such (unusual to me, anyway. I taught myself canning from a brochure I picked up at the Amish market outside Kalona, Iowa - excellent and practical, but definitely not unusual.). After this, it was off for cheap and hearty Italian food in downtown Rochester. A fine trip all around.

Upcoming events:
Make a book with my betrothed! Jana is offering a simple bookbinding workshop at True Colors Bookstore, 4755 Chicago Ave. So. (formerly Amazon Bookstore, across from Turtle Bakery) on Sunday, July 19th from 1:30 -3:30. For a mere $25 (part of which goes to the store), you can make yourself an excellent journal. Call the store to preregister (number on the website).

Last I heard, I have still have some openings for my workshop,Inflagranti Delicto: Writing Good Sex Scenes, at The Loft Literary Center, Saturday, July 18th from 1-5. For a mere $50 or so, you can let me harangue you for several hours about the one or two things I've learned about writing about sex. Should be fun. :-)

Comments

[ruralwriter.livejournal.com]

the license is due to show up in the mail any day now.

Yay!

Jana is offering a simple bookbinding workshop

It's a shame it's so far away; one of my coworkers really wants to get into bookbinding! Where's transporter technology when we need it???

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Would you really trust a computer to put all your parts back together again the right way? Just saying. :-)
She's teaching a Books through history workshop in Ohio in August, if that would help.

[lee-martindale.livejournal.com]

Marriage license acquisition - check! Grinning happily here.

Remind me to tell you, over beverages of choice, the tale of when Hubby and I went to get ours. Let's just say the man got more than fair warning of what he was getting into. (grin)

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

We shall make a date for Gaylaxicon and a tell-all event. :-)

[lee-martindale.livejournal.com]

(chortle) And catching-up will be fun, too.

[thaedeus.livejournal.com]

"Rebecca pronounced us 'cute'"

Indeed!

I like the Spouse and Spouse part. Although I think
Bride and Bride would have worked too. :)

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but a bit femme for her though. :-)

[sacchig.livejournal.com]

Hooray for the license being in the mail!

And unusual preserves sound pretty nifty, too.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Saw your post about your mom - huzzah for promising outcomes! :-D

[queenofillusion.livejournal.com]

Decorah is a nice town. I stop in every time I go home to Iowa. Still, I've never quite managed to make it to the museum. Sounds like I should.

Veronica

[queenofillusion.livejournal.com]

Oh...spouse and spouse...forgot to add that is so cool!

Veronica

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Definitely check out the museum - it's quite cool. They even have one of the original sailboats that Norwegian immigrants used to cross the Atlantic.
And thanks for the spousal congrats! :-)

[pameladean]

Hooray!

P.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :-D

[firebirdgrrl.livejournal.com]

EEEEE:)

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

That is an excellent squee - thanks! :-D

[gismonda.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!

Decorah is lovely and Seed Savers is AWESOME.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :-D
This is my second trip to Seed Savers and I continue to be wowed. How are things down your way?