Thanks for the kind words everyone. I really do enjoy it so far and have been ocean obsessed since I was a child (I'm 34). Cornfed, I'm taking the course at Aqua Ventures in Cockysville. Seems like a decent place, my instructor is a good guy with a lot of experience. Grier, yes I'm sure I will take advantage of that forum as I was reading it quite a bit last night and everyone was pretty friendly and forthcoming with their knowledge. Quite a change from other hobby oriented forums where you encounter tons of elitism.
Cheers,
Josh