Howdy flirty,
Welcome aboard...
As far a programs go...Assuming you're on a PC...Your browser (probably IE), Notepad and a photo editor (there are good free ones out there and I'm sure someone will point you toward one if you ask nicely...
). That's really all you need to get started but if you want a WYSIWYG HTML editor, I suggest DW. Either way, learn HTML as soon as you can. It shouldn't take very long and you'll be glad you did.
Go with pay hosting for sure, I've always been fond of
www.m3server.com but there are plenty of good hosts to choose from. I usually get my domain names form
www.directnic.com but I've heard that
www.godaddy.com &
www.joker.com are cheaper.
Once you have your domain & hosting, start building free sites in sub directories and leave the root for a hub or something else to be decided upon later.
Post links to your work, ask questions (the only dumb one is the one you don't ask), and read til your eyes hurt...
Good luck and again welcome.
Regards,
SF