i'm just shy of 5'8" and like you rachel, i've always loved being taller--probably because i feel more capable and functionally adept, as a result, and for the most part, i've been given positive feedback about being taller from guys.
that said, i've mostly dated guys on the taller side, and so they tend to like having a girl closer to their height. however, i have an ex that was practically my height --actually i had slightly bigger feet than him too. : ) while his height wasn't an issue for me, he hated that i wore boots and heels that routinely made me 3-4" taller than him. and as a result, it only fueled my perception that guys don't like women to be taller than them, and it's also made me more cautious with guys in my "height range" because of that negative experience.
what i'm most attracted to in a guy has little to do with height. i suppose conceivably, a powerful basis for compatibility, chemistry and the like, can overcome much. the same with build and the other stuff, honestly.
what i care more about those things is that he's capable of being a co-adventurer. i don't want to spend the rest of my life with someone who is glued to a lazy-boy, in front of a television, or some kind of lethargic, mind-numbing existence that is only punctuated with work and sunday church.
sometimes build is more of a by-product of one's preferred lifestyle, and so in that circumstance, it matters.