Learning to Think in Another Language: My Personal Experiences in 5 stages

How does one make the transition from thinking in English to thinking in another language? Does it a switch suddenly flip for most people or is it a gradual shift? Here is what is happening to me.

First stage: Starting up from nothing in French, my brain keeps searching for non-English words so that I can express myself. So in my beginning experiences learning French almost 2 years ago, if I did not know a word in French that I wanted to use my brain would pull-up words in Spanish or German that meant the same thing... which I must say is terribly confusing.

The Spanish pops up despite that I have not studied it because there is so much Spanish used daily around me and it is peppered-in everywhere on TV. The German pops up simply because it is not English, so my brain seems to have stored those words "next door" to my French words. The two keep bleeding into each other like throwing a red sock into the white laundry.
Second stage: I accumulate more French and the German begins to recede. But now I often can't remember if I am using a German or Spanish word in place of a French word I know. I even have to ask people if the word I am using is French.
Third stage: All of my hard work going to classes, writing in French, and watching movies seems to be paying off. I am beginning to grasp phrases as opposed to words although I could not construct the same sentences that I understand. I finally begin to hear pronouns being used in French... which was quite a problem for me for a long time.
Fourth stage: My husband keeps using Spanish phrases (I don't know why). At this point, I actually can't understand the Spanish phrases which I also know because my "French ears" are listening. I keep asking him to use French if he wants to play around with another language. Maybe his brain is rebelling. He used to like using French.
Fifth stage: I will have to get back to this subject. I think I am turning a cusp of some kind. I know I need more immersion experiences so I am going to meet in tutoring sessions and just speak French. I am looking forward to traveling to somewhere French speaking when I can.
Details are to follow on a later blog entry.