welcome to the board. you are the type of off roader this club was created for so you'll fit right in. the best advice i think i can give you for now is "get seat time". by this i mean just drive the jeep off road, graded road or jeep trail, doesn't matter just get used to the jeep and how it handles things. then do some trips with us and ask questions, we love giving answers even if we're making stuff up.
no really, ask questions and get an idea of what you want to progress to and go from there. my 94 yj is on a 2.5" lift with a 1" body lift on 32's and it capable of taking me just about anyplace i want to go and some places i don't wanna go.
be sure to read the topics in the club info section to get an idea about how we do things and i hope you can hit the trail with us.