You can check up on your voting power and resource credits here:
https://steemd.com/@nat-expressions
I have no idea about a timeline, and am not even too sure about who to ask.
If you have a spare witness vote available, I'd recommend a vote for @fulltimegeek, he's on point technically - and has a heart for small accounts as well as a vision for the success of Steem.
Thank you so much for your help!
This might seem like a dumb question...how is a witness vote different than an upvote?
There are no dumb questions.
A witness vote decides who produces the next block on the steem blockchain.
Every user can cast 30 votes and it has no cost to the voter.
The more votes a witness has, the more blocks they can produce and it increases their rewards. Most of the rewards go to the top 20 witnesses as they produce most of the blocks and secure the blockchain.
He explains it well in this video :D
https://steemit.com/fulltimegeek/@fulltimegeek/qni6pavb