Hello lovely ladies!

My Captain and I have been together for ~6 months now. This past weekend, we celebrated my 24th birthday together, and it was truly the best birthday I've ever had. I've never been one to expect my man to be at my beck+call and spending lots of $$ on me on my birthday, as little things go a long way. He got me a card and wrote some sweet things in it, and that meant the most to me out of everything he did for me. But the best gift was that when he was heading home Saturday night, he told me he loved me. I had been feeling it for months, as we've known each other for about 1.5 years, but didn't want to be the first one to say it. After an awkward "wut," I said it back. We've also said it again on Monday when we chatted on the phone.

My question is this: What should progression post-"I love you" look like in a healthy relationship between a masculine man+feminine woman, where both are marriage-minded but are not in a position to get married or live together right now?

I've never really been in love before, and this is by far the best relationship I've ever been in. Although I've dated around, I've never been in a relationship long enough for "I love you"'s to be said. I want us to have been together for at least a year before we start talking about marriage and building a life together. I know he's marriage/family-minded because I knew his values before we even started dating. He's even joked with me very early on about us getting married and what a wedding would look like -- even saying (seriously) that he wants a wedding as awesome as his older brother's was.

I should also mention that we have not yet had sex, let alone even seen each other naked.