My wife is Canadian and I am a UsC. We used to meet every few weeks at a border town for a weekend. In between our days were much like yours as we spent them on video chat nearly 20 hours a day on days I didn’t work. So for us the meeting every few weeks at a border town ( 7 hours for me 6 for her to drive to meet) was important. It allowed us more time together in the real world plus lots of evidence of a relationship. The more time together the better and we had pics in various locations together plus the border crossings. Aside from all that we made each other beneficiary for life insurance, I added her to my lease and as an authorized user on my CC and added her to my bank account. All before she was here and had a SSN.