I guess I'm really not sure where to begin.... I should continue reading

So zone 1 trip trip trip trip (1,2,3,4), I just want that to show up on a display. I'll keep at my arduino cookbook & hopefully come back with some better questions

Thanks for the link to the bare bones 'nano' board too. I have a bunch of stuff coming from deal extreme, including bluetooth, network, relays, and a few different types of displays (7 segment, some with buttons, just all kinds of stuff) to play with.
I already have 2 displays - one's a LCD touch screen: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008FWSG3S/ref=oh_details_o08_s00_i00
and a 20x4: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003B22UR0/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00
I really don't know jack about any of this yet, so far I've just been typing sketches verbatim (for the most part) out of the books.