This is my first post. I am new to SharePoint and attempting to create a intranet site for the company I work for using SharePoint.

Best of luck with SharePoint Martina. It's an awesome platform, I'm sure it will solve all of your intranet needs. I created my previous company's intranet on SharePoint 2007 and I've personally used SharePoint 2010 and I can definitely tell you, 2010 is so much easier for all people involved, from the administrator to the developer to the end users.
I'm pretty sure you'll do great with it! This book is awesome as well! As a former admin and power user of the 2007 platform, I'm now working on my development skills on the 2010 version and I can sincerely say I absolutely love this book! It's so very helpful and explanatory that everything seems easy to develop and, even more important, to remember!
Well, as I said, best of luck :)