How did you define “secured my career”. I don’t think I ever felt I had “secured my career” during my working years!
I agree. My alone time comes naturally through our hobbies though. Spouse does yoga and I certainly don’t. I hunt, which necessitates a week away without them, and fish which they will do, but rarely. And the occassional business trip, though that’s been non-existent the last few years. We don’t seem to need scheduled alone time beyond that though.
I know couples who go on seperate vacations. That’s about the last thing I’d do, it’s not a vacation for me if my spouse isn’t there.
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I’m not sure anything could have prepared her for what she was getting into.
there is a religious component to many short engagements.
For some, the longer the engagement the longer until getting laid
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Is it? I used to get teased about that
Congrats! We’ll be just 8 years on Monday
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As mentioned, every relationship is wildly different. g-lassie and I were both well into our 30s/40s (there is a somewhat large age gap), but for us:
Dating → Proposal: 16 months
Proposal → Marriage: 2.5 months.
Going strong at 7 years of marriage now 
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About a year from dating to proposal, and another year to marriage.
I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer for anyone.
You guys are fast
One could conclude that in those situations that marriage takes place at a younger age than in the general public.
I think a lot depends how old you are when you meet. By your 30s I think you usually know what you want. 20s less so for many.
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This was definitely the case for us. What we were taught would “damn us to hell” (or worse, get me pregnant) definitely influenced our decision. Also living together was WAY cheaper than living apart. But I went to a church affiliated college and that wouldn’t have been allowed.
One of my nieces was in the Pentecostal Church and she said many of the young people she knew got married as teenagers as “they couldn’t wait.”
A fair number of those in her church who didn’t wait had to get married because of poor birth control planning. Abortion was not an option because of their beliefs.
yup. At my age if I see the right person that checks every box I’d get married in a month no problem
Met Sep1994, Dated Jan1995, Proposed Oct1995, Married Jul1996. Started work Aug1996.
Still happily married, 26th anniversary in a couple weeks.
We both met in college working on post-graduate degrees and neither of us completed our degree. I wasn’t cut out for a Ph.D. in math and she was content to abandon her M.A. in counseling as my job involved moving away from central Michigan.
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That’s cute that you know all the dates after all these years
I remember my kids birthdays. Can’t recall my anniversary or my spouse’s birthday. Thank goodness for Google calendar. Now I remember all sorts of dates.
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My wife and I dated for 3 months, split for 3 months (she got nervous it was moving so fast), dated for 3 months (she realized she had broken her own heart), got engaged, and 3 months later we got married. About a year from meeting we were married. Been at it for 18 years come August 7. I was a bartender she was a teacher and now we both work for Humana 
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sounds like the ending of a Disney movie, “and they lived happily ever after working for an insurance company”
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with the stock price at all time high!