oH! you're already getting it. haha
My dad has a XT. It's a good camera. I haven't seen any problems out of it. He likes it too. It's a good camera for someone that wants the better quality, but is just learning. I learned on film. That's tough and gets expensive. With a d-slr you can take as many shots as you want while figuring out the different settings and what not.
If you're looking to get serious into photography go check out some books and read. It sounds dumb, but any tips you can take in will help you greatly in your photography skills.
One of the first books I got when I was starting out with my photography was a book called "understanding Exposure" by
Bryan Peterson. GREAT book for explaining the different things on your camera and what settings do what.
It helped me set up to take this picture, that ended up winning me a couple of awards:
Seriously, READ all you can. There is sooo much information out there, along with different tips and what not to help you make amazing pictures... then again, if you're just getting the camera to screw around with, forget everything I just typed. lol