I am a first-year Ph.D. student in social science, and am thinking about taking a leave of absence after this semester. I have two major reasons for considering this: relationship-related and financial. When I moved 5000 miles to start the program, the plan was for my spouse-to-be to find a job in or near my new city and move. Now it is looking that he may take a job in another city that is 3000 miles away from where I am now, and we've talked about my taking a leave of absence to be together (we are getting married in summer). Financially, traveling back and forth has pretty much exhausted my resources, and one year of full-time employment will hopefully improve my financial situation (I have tuition waiver but don't receive any assistantship from my department).
I plan to see my advisor after the spring break to discuss the possibility (there is no mention of leave of absence on the Ph.D. guide or university web site) and wanted to ask for some advice here before I go talk to her. Do you have any suggestions as to how I should present my case to my advisor? How detrimental would it be for me to take a year away from the program? I'd appreciate any insight on this. Thanks.