Surfing Waves

I took several lesson on a 10' foam board and then have been using a friends 9' board, mostly in the white water and am doing pretty well standing on her board but it is heavy & about 23" wide. Iam ready to buy my own and not sure if i should stick with what I am doing well with, or will i quickly outgrow it? Should I go for an 8' now and have a little longer learning curve. I am 5'5" and weigh 125/130lbs.
Is a 9' board a long board and later i may want even smaller then an 8' so best to have a 9 & a 7?
thanks!!

ocmd, welcome, if you feel you are ready to buy a board then for your size 8ft would be fine, I do however suggest you read up through this and other threads about boards and learning before you put your cash down.
You won't quickly outgrow a board that suits you the only one you would outgrow quickly is a foamie......... after a few years you can always sell your boards as you upgrade.

An 8ft or 9ft board can be considered long , but there are many other factors that make a surfboard than length ( that's why I suggested read up), but at this stage just learning the basic basics will occupy you thoroughly.

So in short or was that long a good 8ft board would be suitable for you.
Other factors where are you surfing? male or female , how old etc also play a part?

Have fun

You don't weigh mutch, think about renting or borrowing smaller and smaller until you can tell where you are in ability, you might be suprised on what you can handle.

thanks for the tips, i actually got a surf shop to let me try an 8' board, hope to go out Sunday. As for the other info, I am female & 42 and so far I have been surfing Assategue Island along the coast of Ocean City MD.