I read a lot of what was said, and just wanted to add some things and contradict some things that were said.
First, do not limit yourself to your in state school, especially as a non-trad with an academic blip. Some schools 'forgive' grades, some schools 'expire' grades, some schools are more focused on other factors. Also, the presumption that an IS (instate) school will be cheaper than and OOS (out of state) school isn't accurate; it depends on a lot of other factors (including your IS costs, OOS costs, ability to be admitted, and whether you can become IS for tuition purposes during your education.) Do start looking at schools now, and see what the pre-reqs are, and be sure you can handle those, and be sure you have most of them satisfied. Also, calculate out your overall GPA, and pre-req GPA, both with and without your '03/'04 record.
The experience is important (and many schools do have minimum requirements; ours is 400 hours of diverse, directly supervised, vet experience). Not just for gaining admissions to vet school, but for deciding if this is a profession you want to pursue. It is a costly profession to get into, with a lot of hoops to jump through to get in and throughout your career. It also has some of the highest burn our rates, and in some places, high suicide rates. Also, this is one of those careers where, as soon as you 'know' what you should 'know' things will change...and you will need to learn more, or change what you know. The important part of gaining experience is to understand the parts that are far from fun; that are devastating, nerve wracking, anxiety inducing, tedious, enraging, frustrating, etc. Those aspects often aren't reported in books or videos. You need to have some knowledge of just how clueless or adversarial a client can be, and how much you must be able to work with all sorts of people, and how challenging it can be to perform efficiently when there are so many demands on your time. Alot of folks tend to see vet med as animal focused, but in my experience, it is mostly human focused; dealing with owners or keepers or researchers or referring vets, etc. You need to see what it is like to have a great client and a great owner and a devastating diagnosis. These are the things that will help you decide whether the bad parts of the profession are comfortable with you. I think this is particulary true if you are shy or introverted (that is my opinion, someone will disagree, and that is fine...but if you struggle to ask to shadow, you may also struggle to ask for $1k to properly treat an animal, or fund research, or as a grant for a non-profit, etc.) As other noted, this can be overcome, but that involves choices as well.
Fiance/husband/children are all about finding life/work balance, which can be hard to do as a student and as a vet. Those are decisions you will have to make with any demanding career. I would encourage you to have frank discussions with your fiance about how this career choice may impact your life; while it is possible to have an 8-5 job in vet med, it isn't really that common and school is unlikely to be an 8-5 proposition.
Some folks will say you need to be able to explain 'why vet med?' I still can't say why I want to be here; I think this process, for the benefits, is insane (however, I am also a sky diver, SCUBA diver, and live with 9 pets + fosters, so insane is part of my life) but I can say why I will make an excellent vet and the traits that will help me contribute both to my clients and to the profession. I can describe how every life choice I have made has put me at the edge of vet med, working in conjunction with veterinarians. I can also explain how a DVM is useful for my future goals, but not necessarily why I want to be a DVM. In other words, I think a DVM is the best way for me, but if I hadn't been admitted to vet school, I still would have had a career working at the edge of vet med with the skills I have already developed and an eagerness to learn more. You definitly need to understand how vet med fits into your life, and how you fit into the profession (not necessarily a specific career path, but that you bring value to the field.)
So, I'd say that you have a dual challenge right now; figure out what you need to get in and where you are interested in attending (and whether you are ok with that aspect of this process) and gain experience to see if the costs (challenges) are worth the benefits. Also, while I do not believe marital status and wanting a family are contraindicated for this career, it may be challenging to figure out the timing as a non-trad. I may be having children after 35 because of this career choice, which I did not want. For some folks, those timing issues may be a deal breaker, but these are questions that you have to answer for yourself.
