[jyl]

I have to ask - how long do you intend to stay in that small town? Is your wife's job there unique and irreplaceable? When you finish your degree, what opportunity will there be for you?

I'm a city boy. I've also spent a lot of time in a small town, my wife's hometown (probably bigger than the one you're in, though). If I were 27 and well educated and aiming toward a professional sort of career, there is no way I'd go rusticate in a small town. Earlier in life, fine, and later in life, fine too. But in your late 20s and your 30s, these are years to be advancing fast, professionally speaking, not wasting your time nibbling peanuts while you wait for the town curator to kick the bucket. Suppose you had gotten that job as curator/archivist - was that going to be professionally challenging, fulfillng, advancing, etc, and for how long?

You should step back, assess things for both you and your wife's situation, map out a plan, thinking 10+ years ahead. If the optimal decision is to stay where you are, joining the cattlemen's club or whatever, then go for it with gusto. If the optimal decision is to move, then don't waste the years.