Noob here. Do I have what it takes?

There are great examples that come with the IDE.
Get a UNO and go through these axamples.

Also see:
Arduino links.

Watch these:

Some things to read:

https://learn.adafruit.com/category/learn-arduino

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-read-a-schematic

http://playground.arduino.cc/Code/AvoidDelay

https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=384198.0

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/using-the-logic-level-converter

http://arduino-info.wikispaces.com/

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