Freezing moments in time

I get to go to my first photography class tomorrow. I want to get better so my pictures can be something more extraordinary. My real hope is that someday my photography skills will just approximate the women here, here and here. I want to learn how to shoot on manual, to know what I need to change when the picture doesn't turn out so well. I'd like to understand natural lighting better and all the technical terms like aperture. I need to remember more often that I don't have to get a smile or even have them looking at the camera for it to be a good picture. I recognize this is going to be very long process but hopefully I will start to some progression soon. These are pictures I took tonight. I have great models to practice with at least, if I do say so myself!