All those photos of people getting married at the Sonoma County Clerk’s Office on July 1—a few short days after the Supreme Court’s historic ruling in favor of gay marriage—are a joy to behold. Ecstatic couples, many with decades of relationship behind them, smile through tears, kissing and holding up the rings that make it official. The excitement brings to mind my own wedding day in 2008, when my husband and I said “I do” on a bluff in Salt Point overlooking the Pacific Ocean, surrounded by our family and friends. It stands as one of the best days of my life. At the time, because ours is a heterosexual marriage, we had no trouble heading down to the clerk’s office to get our marriage certificate. I still remember the rush of excitement as we signed the official documents, making our marriage “legit.”

A mere fifty years ago, my marriage would not have been recognized as legal in 17 states solely because I loved someone of a different race; our five-month old daughter would have had parents that could not marry because certain people—I’m looking at you, Harry Truman—deemed marriage between races to be wrong. Seems ridiculous right? But it wasn’t until 1967 that the U.S. Supreme Court deemed anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional, making interracial marriage legal across the entire country. Now, people don’t even bat an eye, at least in the Bay Area, at mixed race couples, but it wasn’t always that way.

The argument against gay marriage goes along the lines of “Marriage is between a man and a woman” but in the not-too-distant past it was “Marriage is between a white man and a white woman,” or “Marriage is between a black man and black woman,” and on and on. Fortunately, last week, we saw a moment of sanity and grace in American history with the dismantling of DOMA. I look forward to a time, fifty years from now, when we look back and say, “Remember when same-sex marriage was illegal? How crazy was that?” But today, I raise a glass of bubbly to everyone out there making it legal! Mazel tov!

• Freddie Myles, center, with his 2013 youth weighlifting teams at the national championships in Missouri

As the Bohemian reported this year, Olympic weightlifting isn’t just for musclehead gym rats anymore. To further this point, Freddie Myles of Myles Ahead Weightlifting in Petaluma emailed us with some news: his girls team won the Youth Weightlifting National Championship, held this weekend in Missouri, and two of them took home individual titles.

Chloe Tacata, 13, of Rohnert Park and Julia McKairnes, 12, of Santa Rosa are now national champions. They each threw more weight over their heads than anyone in their weight class, and three others on the team finished a close second in their weight class. The boys’ team did well, too, and everyone placed in the competition. About 400 lifters competed, which Myles says is more than the past couple years. What’s more, his team, the only one from California, bested some stiff competition. “Two of the teams we beat are two powerhouses in the country,” he says, referring to teams from Georgia and Missouri. Seems like baseball isn’t the only sport in Petaluma where kids are kicking butt.

And since they were just outside Kansas City, Myles says he made sure to grab some great barbecue. “There was one place with a lot of trophies from barbecue competitions all over the place,” he says. “It was really good.”

UPDATE: Marriage licenses will be issued from the county clerk’s office and marriages will resume in Sonoma County on Monday, July 1.

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Bill Rousseau hasn’t married a gay couple since 2008—but in his office at the County Clerk yesterday, sure enough, his phone started ringing again.

Following yesterday’s Supreme Court decision to overturn DOMA and dismiss the opponents of Prop 8, the gates have been re-opened for Rousseau to issue licenses for and conduct legal gay marriages in California. It’s something the Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor is anxiously awaiting, and he’s not alone, if the interest from couples is any indicator.

His advice for those wanting to get married? “Be patient,” Rousseau advises, because he still has to oblige with the court’s decisions and may have to wait 25 days until he can officially perform same-sex marriages.

Patience has been a key player in the gay rights movement since supporters first celebrated in 2004 when same-sex were performed in San Francisco, and again in 2008 when they were legal statewide. Rousseau remembers being an officiant then, and recalls it being a celebratory time. “There were a lot of people who had come over to get married. It was a really exciting time, and high-energy. As the officiant, I felt very honored to be able to perform some of those services. There were couples that had been together 20, 30 years, finally getting married,” he says.

Now, Rousseau says, is the time for preparation. This gives Rousseau time to get ready for what he predicts will be a large crowd of happy spouses-to-be. “We’ve got a couple wedding rooms, and we’re going to get some more as this thing develops,” he says. “We’ve got a couple nice arbors at the clerk’s office that we can do for outdoor ceremonies as well. And we’re going to look for more depending on the demand.”

Weekly hours at the clerk’s office, too, could be extended to accommodate the demand, Rousseau says.

Same-sex couples can get the marriage process started by filling out a marriage license application online through the county office’s website. The remaining steps are simply to follow the guidelines on the site, such as remembering that a marriage, for the most part, requires one witness, and that both parties must appear in person to receive a marriage license. Fees for licenses and ceremonies are also provided.

“Keep checking the news,” Rousseau adds. “We’ll issue a press release when we know that we can start doing them.”

UPDATE: Marriage licenses will be issued from the county clerk’s office and marriages will resume in Sonoma County on Monday, July 1.