Comments Please

I'm still wet behind the ears with only 4000 hands to date but wanted to point out a couple of observations from my games.
I play up to and including the .5/1 tables and my game is (hopefully) tight and aggressive as per SSH.

Point 1.
I have noticed that I am waiting on average 20 hands for playable pocket cards. When I get good cards, say AKs, I play them with a raise and generally find that the table folds to me (presumably since they have noticed my lack of played hands) and I pick up the princely sum of a buck or two!

Point 2.
when I occasionally do get to play my good cards, I am encountering lots of loose players at the .5/1 table that seemingly seem to always pick up a full house or flush on the river and beat the hell out of my long awaited straight! Having played the cards aggresively means that my chip stack takes a massive hit.

Are my observations consistent with those of other beginners?

Do the more seasoned players amongst you have similar recollections from your early days?

Any advice is welcome. I am not about to give up or go on tilt, I just want some thoughts on the way forward. My initial feelings are to either 1) Loosen up to counter the points above or 2) read some of the advanced books to see if they offer any solutions.

Thoughts/comments welcome.