Thanks for sharing! I am a few weeks deep, but dove right in too! I've found Coinbase is easiest platform to exchange your fiat, then progressed to a few of the exchanges. I ordered my Trezor wallet off Amazon before the price jumped, and started cramming my bits in there...

I also learned IF you are gonna use the Coinbase platform for a fiat exchange , I recommend you buy Litecoin to transfer them to an exchange; the transaction fee is cheaper than BTC. I don't know if SegWit next week will resolve the fee issues soon, but that's a method I've been employing...