25 and in a (kind of) mess

I am 25 with a GED and about one year worth of tangible community college credits. I am on the verge of getting married. She has a HS diploma but is in the same boat as far as higher education. We both work full time and combined make $56k before taxes. Did I mention we work in one of the most expensive counties in the country (the one right above NYC). We have about $3k in debt between the two of us that we have lowered from $6k the past year. We rent in CT because it's cheaper. We just came into some money...$280k. What do we do? I'm thinking college is the answer, right? Both of our jobs are menial at best. It seems like a no brainer to me to get back in school to find higher paying jobs. Do we invest in buying a house? How do we handle the money? I've looked into CDs and mutual funds through various banks, but honestly I don't know where to start. We set up a Citigold account and I've been told they have financial advisors in-house. I feel like we have the opportunity to start our life together and quickly take a step up. I want to invest about $50k off the bat. Something safe that won't lose us any money. And for the rest of our life use our money to make more money and prepare to retire. So what's the best plan? Any advice?