Thanks for the replies!! I'll definitely take each piece of advice that you guys have given. I'll use some of this info to help target some projects that I might also be interested in trying out, too.
war_spigot: Thanks for the tips and nice specifics - sounds like you've started playing around with this much like I am starting to do now, and it's cool to see some of the tips from someone else who's just recently started too. Being a big DIYer type of person as it is, I do have most all of the tools that you mentioned - but thanks for adding that in, I think it was a really helpful bit of info to add in there.
We do have a Radio Shack here, but I definitely stay away from it 99% of the time. Actually I think I've only gone there twice in the 2 years that I've lived here... I reserve it for "emergency use only"... 
On that same subject, I think I will probably take what seems to be the lead from all of you of ordering online. It sounds like I won't be as rushed (as I would be in a store) and I can take my time to actually figure out what I need instead of just buying a bunch of stuff that might work.
Thanks again!