On marriage and on education.

I love flying...on a trip, but mostly to go see Kyle.

But not necessarily in that order; yep that's right I firmly believe in finishing school before getting hitched :) Now, you are probably thinking, "wait a minute- will you be done school?" In answering honestly, no I won't be...totally. Confused? Let me explain.

I will have completed my first undergraduate degree the spring before Kyle and I get married. Kyle will be entering his fourth and final year of engineering, and I plan to be working full time while he finishes up. Once Kyle finishes school we get to switch, and he will work full time (as the sexiest engineer I know) and I will go back to school for two more years for my bachelor of Ed(ucation). Now, ideally in my mind I would of answered,  "I would never get married before both of us are done school, maybe taking a semester to travel to Europe, finding out who I am blah blah blah". 

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that relationships are complicated and even more so are long distance relationships. I wouldn't be able to figure out "who I am" and where I want to be, because now Kyle is an integral part of that; a vital part of who I am. Please don't take this out of context and attack me for saying I am letting a man define me, and change my goals. I'm not- he doesn't define who I am, nor will he ever damper my goals of where I want to be in life/my career etc. Quite the opposite, he supports me and encourages me; just as I do the same for him. I'm ready to get married, because I now know that the person I get to share the rest of my life with gets to be by my side when I am ready to tackle those bucket list items. (Confession, one of my items is to dine and dash at a restaurant...horrible I know). 

Back to education; I don't think people should get married before finishing school in general (there are exceptions and of course you have to do what is right for you), but I think that if the person that loves you now, they will love you in 2 years when you are done your degree. I wouldn't marry Kyle if I was not going to have my degree complete and him having almost have his complete. Its foolish to jump into a marriage when you don't have the opportunity to be financially stable, or emotionally ready. (This applies whether you are young like us, or older and are having significant career/life goal changes). And I absolutely think that education is VITAL in life today, whether you take courses on something you are passionate on, get a full degree (or a couple), end up going to graduate school, the list goes on and on. I know you can have a successful career without post-secondary education, I'm not being a snob; the reality is there is better job security and far more opportunity's to those with a degree/certification. Besides that, it helps you grow in your awareness of the world, just as much as opportunity's help you grow.

I hope this post made sense, and please remember...these are my opinions, from my personal experiences; I'm not casting a wide net and making presumptions; relationships are unique, and they all work in their own way.

PS: I'm sure there will be a future post on my rants of why long distance relationships stink so much. (fyi, Kyle and I are 8 hours apart when we are both at school and 5 when I am home).