Ok. I would suggest trying out energy's rom to start with then. Like I said it is fairly large and takes almost all of the main system memory but it is probably the most user friendly to start with. NRG sets up his roms so you can flash and use without any hassle. It is a good one to start on while you read and hunt around for apps (cabs).
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=74084
I would suggest the Energy 21911.Sense2.5.Cookie.LITE
The download link is at the bottom of post 2.
I use microsoft myphone to archive all my contacts and text messages.
I put the cab file in this post for you for the phone itself.
Here is the link for going through the sync'd items.
http://sn1-p1.myphone.microsoft.com/...t.po?mkt=en-US
Just a note on text messages. It has been found that holding a lot of text messages in the phone slows the messaging and the phone down a lot.
so sync your phone every couple of weeks and either delete or archive old texts then re-sync your phone to clear them out.
I would sync the phone and backup all your contacts and messages and everything so that you don't have to manually enter them all into the next rom.
You can make a folder in the phone itself using the file explorer. Or when you hook your phone up to your computer you can enter into both the device and internal storage using my computer from your desktop. I do this for most maintenace things as it is easier to read.
I also added the cab for the facebook app. Install on the internal storage drive.
I have only run across a few apps that have to be installed onthe device drive itself. I install everything I can on the internal storage drive.
Start looking around and collecting apps (cab's) for future flashing. It's a pain to flash a rom and be missing an app you use and not have the cab to use it.