So, I read and accomplished those articles and steps (some of which I had already done, but I re-accomplished anyways for the sake of the effort.)
In order to bring my airport express more in line with the examples, I canged it's default IP from 10.0.1.1 to 192.168.2.1
I changed my code to:
byte mac[] = { 0x90, 0xA2, 0xDA, 0x00, 0xDB, 0x50 }; //Set your Ethernet Shield's MAC address here - make sure you replace the ZZs with your shield's values!
byte ip[] = { 192, 168, 2, 4 }; // Set your shield's desired IP address here - check your network for configuration details
byte gateway[] = { 192,168,2,2 }; //if you need to set a gateway IP
byte subnet[] = { 255,255,255,0 }; // Change this to your subnet address
unsigned int localPort = 7777; // local port to listen on (set this the same as Port # on Ardumote Params Screen)
IPAddress iPhoneIP(192, 168, 2, 3); //Set the iPhone/iPod/iPad's IP address to send messages back to Ardumote...
unsigned int iPhonePort = 7777; //Set the Port # of the message table you configured in Ardumote (default is 7777)...
...But no dice. I am of the belief something is still wrong sketch/IP address wise, but is it possible it could be my shield? I had dreams all night that I woke up and it worked- that's how wrapped up in this I am lol. The Ardumote site ( http://samratamin.com/Ardumote_Tutorial.html ) makes it look SO easy, and states this should take 3-5 minutes... not 2 days. I just know it's something simple I am missing!
Any other suggestions guys? BTW, thanks for your help so far, I really appreciate it.