Finally...Homemade Bread!

Its the little things in life that make me happy.  Today I finally succeeded in making some bread.  What most of you don't see is all the times that I fail.  I usually just post about the perfection of something that I've made.  Well, now I'm going to be honest with you. 
I've been trying to make bread for a really long time and have never really quite succeeded.  Yes, I know, my husband and other taste-testers have said that they like the bread, but I know them well enough that I can read right through them.  I also know what good bread is supposed to taste like, and I can tell you that mine barely reached edible.  And when i mean edible, I mean that when it comes out of the oven I eat a slice and then can't handle the taste anymore that I give the rest to my chickens.  When i talk about bread making, I'm not talking about white bread that anyone could make in their sleep, I'm talking grinding the wheat berries and making bread. 
Finally, after much research, I did this (inspiration from here):
2 Cups-Whole Wheat Flour
8oz-Whey (from my homemade yogurt)
5oz-water
1/2 tsp. yeast
Warm up the water and whey so its slightly above room temp.  Mix flour, whey, water, and yeast while cleaning up dinner dishes (because it needs to sit around on your counter for about 12 hours)
The next morning, while you're drinking your coffee, add:
1 1/4 Cups-White Bread Flour (I know, I'm cheating a little...but it feels sooo good)
2 1/2 tsp.-Salt
Knead in your kitchen-aid for 5 minutes (I seriously set a timer because I was afraid of developing the gluten too much).  After the 5 minutes, I kneaded it by hand until I felt that the gluten was developed enough (try stretching it out and if it breaks before you can see light through the stretched out part, then you need to knead it some more).
Let it rise for 4-6 hours (I let mine only rise 4 hours).  At this point, I divided it into two.  Gently fold each piece into thirds (like a letter you are folding to put into an envelope).  You'll only need to do this twice (because you don't want to damage the precious gluten).  That's the shape I left it and let it rise for another hour.  At the end of the hour, I started pre-heating my oven with a stone and a pan of water under (to create steam).  So really the final rise was about 1 1/2 hours.  Just before I put it in the oven, I sprayed it with water and cut the top.  I let it cook about 3 minutes at 520F then dropped the temperature to 350F and let it finish for another 25 minutes.  I also transferred it so that the bread cooked on a piece of parchment which was on the stone.  Once it was cooked, I took it out and let it cook on a wire rack. 
This bread was incredible.  It had fluff, flavor, and a fresh taste. It also was amazing with a glass of Sauvignon Blac.

Homemade Wheat Bread and Wine fixes a long day!
(P.S. The wine was not from Wiens)

Things that I'm now learning:
-Its more about the technique than the recipe
-Watch YouTube videos on how to knead
-Don't over-knead your dough
-Cheat, no one will judge you (maybe one day I'll have wheat bread that tastes this good that is 100% wheat and no white flour)
-Use less yeast (yes, I know it takes longer, but its totally worth it)
-Use whey (I'm only saying this because I read on several websites that you can use whey to replace water in baking...I did it and it tasted good)
-Serve this bread with grilled basil shrimp (recipe to come)
-Drink wine!