Texanfan? Must be a recent name since no one was a Texan fan until they started wining this year (j/k)
Like I've told the other half dozen ECCIE guy newbies: go with a couple of newbie friendly providers and more importantly, write reviews on them. Remeber to ask them for premission to use them as references (most are OK with it). Also participate in a few threads even its to say: "Good review, I've been thinking about her."
Once your review and post count is up and you have been here awhile, then all you mostly need to do is tell the provider in question (via PM) to ask X,Y, or Z providers and for her to check your reviews. Some providers that's all they will need (and won't check the references), but some do. Good just to have and offer.