It's great to hear a story of how love enhanced someones life and still continues. She's lucky to have a thoughtful, introspective man (almost as lucky as you are to have found a woman of her spirit, as you've described it)
Regarding people making assumptions about how easy someone's life is: that fucking pisses me off too. People assume that about women a lot, without consideration of achievements or anything.
RE: Dreams require sacrifice. Is that so bad?