You need to become more determined. Know what you want and be clear in your intent! If you want a girl you have to be able to show her and tell her that. You also need to be very specific and able to tell her WHY you like her (called "qualification" in PUA lingo). Texting and chatting for seven months without getting anywhere is not what I would call being determined.
My recommendation is that you make a sudden change in your behavior and become more determined. Tell her something like: "hey, I have been fooling around long enough, being Mr Nice Guy not able to take this anywhere. That has to change. I really like you because [insert reason here]. So I either want to start dating you..." etc.
She will probably answer with "I don't have such feelings for you, but I want you as my friend". You have to say no to that, because you will always feel bad when you talk to her otherwise. If the conversation goes this way, you may give her a last chance to change her mind - invite her to a party or something (but you really need to have a party, with real people in it).
During this party, try to be energetic and happy. If she doesn't react the way you want, you need to react with a "yeah, whatever" and continue party on being just as happy as before - don't let it affect you. Focus on your other friends if that happens.
And by the way, there is no such thing as "the holding hands phase". If you hold her hand before you have kissed her means that you don't dare to take the step, which will turn her off totally. It definitely turns ME off.
