Better dang well make certain your dreams coincide with her view of what your marriage should be. I've been married 22 years as of last night and every major move or decision we've made have been done after many discussions and with her unconditional approval. Even at that the first year is especially hard on them. Case in point, after we moved from Michigan to Tennessee my wife was a bit miserable for the first 15 to 18 months. Part of that was due to my baby girl being miserable but we got through it, they both made fantastic friends and now have a much better time than they ever had in Michigan. Remember, you'll have an instant support group with those who are sharing your school experience. No matter where you end up you'll always have that instant support group. When I moved to Tennessee I simply found a group of Operators sat down with them and started speaking BS with them. (Isn't it wonderful how Nukes everywhere speak fluent BS, it's our common language). Your wife won't have that instant support and even your school period will be tough, guys and gals with families can't even begin to understand what a time commitment your training period really entails. One common mistake I'd advise you not to make, just because you like a guy does not mean your wife will like his wife so don't push things, she'll eventually click with someone. You'll need to encourage her even with stuff you find as matter of fact, like the first time she drives to a store without you being with her. You'd be surprised at how far stuff like that goes. Keep this constantly in mind, a Nukes Wife is the hardest job there is, no matter whether it's Navy or commercial. We all work long hours at what is at times a very difficult job, we all have extra things we have to do to support our plants, and we all have a mistress aka the power plant.
Try to keep work at work, the only time I ever really bring work home is when I'm in training for a License then I study my arse off, usually 3 hours a night, plus weekends. Otherwise I have a little trick I use to remind myself my family are not nukes, not my employees and deserve to have my head in their game when I'm home. I have a shrunken head and when I get home I put my palm on it, close my eyes for a minute and just let the nuclear flow out of me. Then i'm set for the night!.
Mike
