Not much to take pictures of at the moment....three cuttings, three cut pop bottles and an unopened bag of cactus soil lol!

Adele, I'll try to make this quick.

Soil: fast draining, well aerated, quick drying. For rooting, 50% perlite or vermiculite and 50% coir (can eventually be replaced with cactus soil - not sure.) For planting, same qualities as above. Search this forum for "gritty mix".

Water once when you plant the cuttings and do not water again till you see plenty of roots in your clear plastic bottles.

Rooting hormones are not necessary - per se. Can be good, but many people found no difference. Personally, I use Clonex gel every once in a while. Especially on tough to root varieties.

You definitely won't have to wait one year to see a leaf. You better not. Ha! Cuttings of decent quality should root in 6-8 weeks, some take longer, but you definitely should see growth.
Flowers is a different story. Being in zone 5a myself; I can say that you eventually have to wait longer than two seasons to see blooms, but two seasons is a good time frame - do not expect too much and maybe they will surprise you.

As for the rocks in the pots, many people use larger pebbles to weigh down their pots, so they won't get blown over. Additionally, the rocks collect heat over the day and release it over night, which is nice but these rocks can get pretty hot too and burn the base of your cuttings. I'd be careful.

My plumeria go outside when night time lows are above 45F, usually around late April/May. They are out till the end of Sept./sometimes well into October. I watch for the same night time lows there. They should get as much sun as possible.

Hope this clears some of your questions. Happy rooting and growing!

A heat mat is an imperative addition to the suggestions you have been given and no direct watering until it has leaves. Keep it dry and warm for the best chances.

Thank you so much for the information! I really appreciate your help here. I've got the 'table set' to work on the little project today and have one quick question.....do I trim the cutting before planting (with or without the root hormone) or do I simply plant the cutting 'as is'? Also, one video mentions a drenching watering at the time of planting and then nothing until it begins to leaf out (that one had root hormone) and another video simply says not to water at all! Ideas? It's a sunny day in West Michigan....still waiting for a little warmth in the air though! Thanks in advance for everyone's kind help, I'll post pictures as I go along!

I would not trim the end. I would do the initial watering. I also like to use room temperature water since it might still be cold out of the tap.

If you have a clean (as in, not mold infested or otherwise sick looking) end, I would absolutely not recut. After planting, give the cutting a quick drench, but make sure you don't have the pot standing in a saucer, so that the water can flow out freely. Water again slowly when leaves emerged and you see plenty of roots in your clear plastic bottles.