Status update -
I had to start from scratch
I literally couldn't even mount my external dvd drive to boot from cd. I guess when I uninstalled the GUI, something relating to blueman got screwed up and I couldn't install or repair anything without errors. I don't use bluetooth so didn't think there would've been an issue removing/disabling those services but evidently that damn package had its hand in everything. It's a confirmed bug that's still open with no resolution.
To top that off - my external drive, where my backups were stored, was corrupted. This was probably the nemesis that caused this all, because I tried restoring from backup a couple of times. Needless to say, I ended up having to reformat the drive because my PC, MAC, or other linux system couldn't recognize it. So I lost all my data from there. Luckily I was able to copy files back onto it from safe mode, but got several corrupted errors. At this point, I don't know what can be saved from the hard drive.
Anyhoo - I went ahead and installed ubuntu server 14 and a very lightweight GUI (that I don't like). I haven't configured or reinstall anything as of yet, because I want to look in using the VM first.
ThePeePs, I could use your help with this one.