I have a few questions for you /r/Android...

Okay... Right now I own the original Droid X and I'm running stock 2.3.4. I'm looking to get a few more months out of my phone and I've been contemplating an attempt at rooting so I can add all these crazy ROMs you people love so much. BUT every time I look into it, I freak out at the process and I just forget about it.

So here are some of my questions:

1: How do I go about rooting my phone in a safe and relatively simple way?

2: How does flashing a ROM work? (What are the basic steps to it?)

3: If I have accomplished those first two issues, what ROM would you suggest I get? Or what are some of the best ROMs available for my phone?

Honestly, any advice/assistance would be much appreciated.