After sending to the board the LCD displays the top row with 16 blocks and a blank bottom row.
From what I have read in other forms this means that it is not initialized properly.
This is correct. It's good to see that you did your research The failure to initialize could be due to either incorrect code or incorrect wiring. Since the code is well proven that leaves the wiring.
Make sure that you have interpreted the LCD pins correctly. For most displays, yours included, pin 1 is closest to the edge of the board. Also make sure that you didn't forget to connect LCD pin 5 to GND.
I have not worked with LCD displays before and I was wondering if there is supposed to be dark pixels and bright pixels or just bright pixels and the background?
Any suggestions would be appreciated
I suggest that you go to Arduino Tutorial - connecting a parallel LCD and follow the tutorial there. This tutorial uses the same 'Hello world' program except the pin numbers are different to give cleaner wiring. There are photos to show you what the display looks like as well. For the first 2/3 of the tutorial the LCD is upside down which is why the bottom row of blocks is displayed when the board is not initialized.
Don