"The moment those girls know that I am not interested in marriage (yet, no plan), they would beat a retreat.. except for this gf.. she is so special and different."
SM, your gf is cool, pretty much similar to me haha.
All I want and care now is that he and I are happy with the way we are. He has a young daughter whom he spends his weekends with and sometimes some weekday evenings too. Unlike other women (so he's said), I have no problem that his daughter is his top priority, and his job too. I so enjoy hearing how he interacts with his daughter and about those interesting incidents at his work. Without a doubt, he having his priorities right has earned him brownie points. For me, my time is well spent on work, family, pets and friends. He knows my life does not around a man.
Like you have said, every part of our love life is a journey, just different stages.
But last year I did want to get married because I wanted to have a baby, and thought the guy I was seeing was a "good husband material" type whom I should get married to like my mom had advised. Fortunately, I discovered the incompatibilities early and decided against compromising. Had I compromised I would have lost myself completely.