As is common in such threads, waffllemaster and pfren have offered excellent advice.
I remember getting angry at IM John Donaldson because he wrote in A Strategic Opening Repertoire that players should stick to 1.e4 and 1.d4 until they had reached som level above where I was at the time. I was mid-1400s USCF and in my late 30s. I wanted to play the Reti and the English and was bored with 1.e4 (mostly because I hated playing against the French) and 1.d4 (because I was lost against the Slav).
Alas, I was getting beat at tactics in these "positional" openings. When I returned to 1.e4 and 1.d4, and took up the French as Black, my USCF rating began climbing. It took a few years to reach 1600, but then only three more to reach 1800. Less than three years after 1800, I hit 1982 (shortly after placing 2nd behind Donaldson in our strongest local tournament). I've dropped a bit since then, but I remain among the top players in my city.
Re: Qe1 vs Re1 -
Since the Queen really belongs on e2 rather than on e1, another possible move order is e3, then Qe2, then e4. This loses a tempo, of course... but so does Qe1, then e4, then Qe2.
Either way, the combination of the moves h3 plus Re1 was unfortunate.