n00b template design problem

[this.arsenal]

Hi

I am quite new to Joomla, but I like it very much. Unfortunately, my webdesign skills limit themselves to Throwing some Html pages together, so I am a bit lost at the moment.

I am trying to set up a blog/photography site, which actually isn't very fancy. I know all this is possible in Joomla. I set it up already, and then didn't know anymore.

The problem is, I want a very clean look of the site, without any fancy stuff.

I set it up as a html site to let you catch my drift..

www.turlington.nl/new

As you can see, there is a logo at the top, a 6 point menu.

Home, which should contain a picture of the month with some text  (this is where the great interactivity of Joomla would be nice)
About, which contains fixed text that never changes
News, which should contain info on site changes, and new stuff happening (this is where the great interactivity of Joomla would be nice)
Blog,  A blog where I can give my opinion, and use as a travel logbook with pictures  (this is where the great interactivity of Joomla would be nice)
Gallery, different photo gallerys
Links, links to several sites, in several categories, all on one page....

As you can see, I'm not asking or wanting much, I could actually do it all in Html and keep doing it there, it's just that the interactivity is far gone that way.

So I would like to set it up so looks like the simple site I made, but with the efficiency of Joomla....

Who can help me there...