Thanks for taking a look at my font! I will definitely make some adjustments.
Are the differences in stroke weight very distracting also?

I think this would be stronger if you began again and focused on the letters themselves a bit more. The core shapes are not as strong as they should be yet. With 'a' you have more energy but by z your focus is weakening. The C is too heavy compared to the rest. Mostly though this face has a bit to much curl in it. The curls should be used to help the letters be more what they are or be natural extensions on the forms - your r does this. Part of the t seems natural - at the bottom. But the one on the top makes the t look less like a t. It's in the way. The t doesn't need the curl at the top or benefit from it. So I would get rid of it. I would go through the whole thing & ask yourself. Is this curl needed here? Is it helping? Or in the way? Also,maybe not all the letters need curls.