On October 14th Tony and I, with our parents and his best friend, Jared went to the Buchanan County courthouse to have our civil wedding ceremony. The magistrate who married us, Sarah Rothman Dooley, was very nice, very sincere and I was very happy that she married us, even if she was an hour late....maybe that should have been some foreshadowing.
For anyone who hasn't been through the marriage process its pretty simple, you get a marriage license, then an official of some sort (religious or legal) as well as two witnesses have to sign your marriage certificate. The official who marries you, then sends that in to the county recorders office from which you received your license. The recorder then documents it with the county and sends you your marriage certificate. Badda-bing, badda-boom, you're married. You then use this marriage certificate to change your name, prove marriage for insurance/tax/etc reasons. Pretty simple, huh?
Nearly two months later, we still haven't received our marriage license, nor has BH County Recorders office.
Sarah Rothman Dooley, swears up and down that she sent it in to BHC. After a few emails and phone calls with both her and and her secretary, progressing from inquisitive to downright rude, as well as multiple calls to both Black Hawk County and Buchanan County (that's the county we were actually married in), no one has the slightest idea where this certificate is. I did receive an interesting tidbit of info from Buchanan County; marriage certificates have to be sent First Class. I'm not a mail person, but from what I understand, that means it's nearly impossible for it to get "lost in the mail".
So technically, according to the State of Iowa, we're not married...I'm pretty sure. This means, we cannot file taxes, I can't get health insurance though Tony's company, etc. In order to get this straitened out, we have to go through the whole process again. Tony and I aren't just swimming in free time either, which just adds to the convenience of the whole ordeal. The other thing, Jared's signature was on the certificate, which meant a lot to Tony. He lives in Chicago, so if we want to file our taxes before April, its probably going to end up being my parents to be the new witnesses...which is fine, but just a little...one sided?
Tony is leaving for Tennessee on Sunday, so we'll have to get it taken care of when he gets back. But jesh, how did something that was supposed to be so quick and easy turn in to such a pain in the ass?
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