Thanks guys. I hope it looks natural. I still worry a bit. The next thing I tackle would be to get the lace totally flat. That's surprisingly hard. I find little bumps/bubbles/folds in it. No way I'd let anyone run their fingers through my hair, they would easily catch an edge. Also, without doing a full bond, the lace in the center I feel is too visible. Looking up close in two mirrors I can find and see it pretty easily. If anyone was up close looking down at my head they would totally see it. The bonded lace, like the hairline, is very hard to see. Only with the perfect right angle, right lighting, and right shadowing can I even get a hint of it.

Lastly, if only I could get this thing as soft as my real hair... it looks a little cooked or processed. Like people that straighten there hair all the time with an iron how it dries it out and makes it look dead.

Did you order any curl?
I noticed your own hair gets slightly curly/wavy as it gets longer.

Using a very small amount of Brylcreem will add gloss & shine back to the hair.
Although the hair looks quite healthy in the pictures.

I'm ordering slightly more curl in my next piece. I'd like to slowly grow this into a longer style. By the way, this pieces stats:
65% density (though my first piece, which had issues and john graciously sent me a new one,was also 65 but was MUCH thicker, so I don't know how much variance there can be)
22r blonde in color, then dyed brown.
Straight, comb forward 6 inch length.

And I'm still having trouble hiding the lace that isn't bonded. Any suggestions?

I bond all over with the lace. Apart from solving your problem, an all over bond is thought to illuminate shedding too.

Do you use tape or glue?

I use Oil Resistant White Glue (ORWG).
2 thin coats all over