Dreams and sleep phases, and duration of dreams
I don't think what you're describing is that unusual. I read about dreams and dreaming in Jaak Panksepp's "Affective Neuroscience" some years ago, and here is what I remember:

First, it is not entirely accurate to say that dreams happen only during REM sleep. What is unique to REM dreams is visual imagery. NREM sleep, also called slow wave sleep, also contains dreams, but they are just a series of thoughts - not very different from when you think about things while awake. 

Second, even if you are describing visual dreams: REM sleep is more shallow than slow wave sleep, i.e. outside noises will wake you up more easily than during the other sleep stages. 

Third, it's very standard to dream about things that are currently going on in your life. 

Fourth, dreams are extremely fragile, they evaporate from memory very quickly unless you actively do something mental with them, and it is easy confabulate some new details into them while trying to keep them from slipping away. It could be that you are reconstructing the content or duration of your dreams a little bit while you are trying to compare them to your thoughts before sleep.