Responses to your thoughts:
1) Post your retirement plan investment options. Ticker and expense ratios. People here are good at giving you advice on where to invest it. One index is not a terrible plan, as long as it's a broad stock index. My 401K and IRA are split among VSMAX, VIMAX, VBTLX, VFIAX, VGSLX, and VTSAX. Four of those are offered within my 401K, the other two are in an IRA. Whatever it's been invested in is not where it should be if you've only made $2K over one of the best 5 year runs in recent history.
2) Roth makes sense now, but when your husband starts pulling in the big bucks open a traditional IRA and max out that and the 401k's/403b's if possible. Tax deferral is your friend once you get above the 15% bracket.
3) Don't pay extra on a 3% mortgage, particularly since the rest is on a 10 year amortization and since you might be moving anyway. If you move, try to get a cheaper house next time. You should have some savings/taxable investments to protect against job loss since your mortgage payments are so high, so consider that before contributing to an IRA.
Advisors will push the balanced funds and target retirement funds since they have the highest expense ratios. Just know their advice is biased, and the forum will give you unbiased advice.
I would consider something more aggressive within your IRA, like
VGSLX which is a REIT. It should give you a more stable return than stocks, and a higher return than bonds, and putting it in an IRA is the best place since it doesn't have qualified tax treatment so you want it sheltered. Maybe do 50% REIT 50% Bond in the IRA.
If you earn more and max out everything ($17,500 + 5,500 = 23,000 * 2 = 46,000) then you will put the rest of your investments into a taxable brokerage account. Or pay off the mortgage which I wouldn't advise. Or buy CD's which again I wouldn't advise.
It might be a good idea to hold onto a little more cash while your husband's future employment is up in the air. You have until 4/15 each year to fund your IRA's for the previous tax year, so there still plenty of time to get your 2014 contributions in.