Thanks again ladies!
Peachtree, I LOVE YOUR HAIR!
Bluebearfanatic: I went to my cousin, whose a stylist, for my color. I've done my own rinses, but I was not going to fool with the perm. color myself, since I had highlights already and I knew 2 colors were going to be used for the color job (using different levels of developer).
As for the weaves, I wore them constantly with no breaks for 3 years, having them redone every 6 weeks. I did not wear a full weave, but close enough, since my tracks started 2 inches away from my hairline. My hair is pretty strong, but I would NOT recommend this method to anyone. My hair and scalp never got a chance to breathe and I'm lucky that my hair did not thin. Plus when I stop the weaving, I went into withdrawal. I was a weave addict, I literally had bags of hair in my house. I only had my hair relaxed for 4 years, but I had to re-train myself to deal with my natural hair. The shock factor was greater since I wasn't personally dealing with my natural hair during the transition. So I would recommend that you add styles like twists/twistouts and braidouts, when you get bored of the weave. Most importantly, try to enjoy the transition and getting to know your natural hair. HTH, pm me if you have more questions.