What a way to ring in the new year–a proposal from your fancy-schmancy publisher boyfriend.

Meet Claudia, 40, newly affianced to Pieter (is that the Euro way to spell it?), age 46. Both of them live in the Netherlands and met on an online dating site in 2009. Six weeks after they met they went on a cruise to the Dominican Republic and then it was on like Donkey Kong. Previously divorced, Claudia comes as a package–she has a 15 year-old-son and a 12-year-old daughter, and Pieter has been ah-maz-ing at the whole step-father thing. “Although I have a good relationship with my ex husband, Pieter is a great father to my kids as well. He helps out with homework, brings them to sport and even took care of them by himself last year because I had to go visit my mum in Suriname who had breast cancer,” said Claudia. “His motto is, ‘My family first,’ and I love him for that.”

The two plan on getting hitched in the summer, and I can’t says I blame them. You can’t even see the ground in Holland until spring.

Her advice to single online daters of the female persuasion? “Finding a good man on internet is hard, because there are a lot of crazy people on these sites too 🙂 But knowing what you want and not setteling for less will make it easier.”