Hi stees777, I can totally relate, on seemingly-simple things like a consistent strum and changing chords. You're not expecting to be Eric Clapton but these seem reasonable things to expect after a few months of effort, right?

What I find with guitar, compared to something like piano, is that there's just so many ways you can mess up the sound. It's a really subtle instrument! Put another way, we take a lot of responsibility for each note. Which makes it difficult but ultimately is also what makes the instrument so versatile and expressive.

I say this not to be discouraging, but to suggest it's OK that it takes a long time to master even the basic things. We can take satisfaction from simply being a little bit better today than we were yesterday.

My suggestion is to take something you want to improve, like a chord change, and slow it WAY DOWN with a metronome. Keep slowing it down until you can do it without many mistakes, and hold yourself to being accurate with the timing. Then nudge the speed up slightly (say, +5 bpm) and practice more. The metronome also gives us a way to measure our progress with a tangible measurement, besides just "how we feel".

Best of luck! I've been at this about 6 months, and truly enjoy the journey.