Oh The Confusion Now! Thai To Us Delimma

Hello to all, its been a little while since I posted, so here is the update and delimma we now face.

Nearly 4 years of communicating, I visited my lady in Sept '07 and everything was great! We are both older, I 46, her 41. We both would like to get married and eventually live here together in the US in NY. I live here now, she presently lives in Bangkok. Now here is the problem we now face.

When I visited her in Thailand in Sept I was employed by a company for over 10 years, but when I returned from my visit I was let go by my company because of necessity. So, now my situation has completely changed and I can no longer show a long term employment from the same company. I started my own business and have been growing this business, although like any other business it will take time to grow. Soooo, now what?

My lady has been in her job for about 8 years, has her own condo, bank accounts, college educated, and would be considered a good girl. We both want the same things and get along great. She agreed to live here and we would like to start the process. We both agreed it would be good for her to visit here, But! where do we start? There is an endless amount of information to go through and the more we read the more confusing it is becoming. This may be due to the fact that I am now self employed and cannot show an income as when I was employed by the company I use to work for.

What to do now? Should she apply for a visa to visit me here? Anyone that can offer some practical advise would be greatly appreciated!! I will be going to Bangkok in about 4-5 weeks to spend time with her again. How do I approach all this with the change in my life due to the job loss?? Anyone familiar with US proceedures?