Benjo - Welcome to the fold. as said keep practising, but don't try to play through the pain. its better at the start to lots of short sessions and let your fingers develop than to try to play a marathon 4 hours practice session.
Also practice and playing, while they help each other, are 2 different entities. Include both in your schedule, as if you don't play the practice stops being fun as there is no goal to it.
Also for picking, try to start looking at alternate picking (Down, Up, Down, Up) early on, it will make things easier in the long run. I fell into economy picking without focusing on strict alternate picking first, and have found for some things I need to break it back down and I'm having to retrace some steps. For chords/rhythm playing too, keep the arm moving like a pendulum.
Jess - congrats on the new ax! Very nice looking
I fall on the Gibson side of the fence. I want a strat or a tele, but love my Les Pauls.
And for acoustic guitars, I may have beaten Boydie on price. I managed to get an Ovation Pinnacle (circa 1991) for free
though I had to replace the bridge, that only set me back $100US. Lovely guitar, plays like an electric, very nice sound when plugged in too