Mountain Biking - Questions about my new mountain bike

Hello everyone. I just purchased a new mountain bike. I haven't really ridden in 3-4 years. Back then I had a Giant Boulder SE. Anyways, I just bought a Scott Aspect 45 from the local shop. It's a 24 speed.

I had a couple questions. I took it out today for a quick ride. Really just took it on the road.

Call me stupid, but I'm confused on shifting. It's having a difficult time popping from the 2nd to the 3rd front gear. I have it in the 8th gear on the rear sprocket and it has a really difficult time shifting. Am I doing something completely wrong? Am I suppose to shift all the way down to the first gear on the back sprocket and then shift and go all the way through? Someone give me a basic rundown on how all the gears and shifting works. I swear, I rode my old bike and had 0 problems. Is there a technique I need to learn?

Also, when I can get it to the 3rd (largest) sprocket on the front, there's a ticking noise like it's still trying to shift. But it only ticks when my right foot starts to go down towards the ground. They said something about ticking being normal for a while, but is this normal?

I am going back in to the shop in a couple weeks (in a different town) so they can put on a stem to raise the bars and for a maintenance so I'll have them help me, but I figured I'd post on here and see if I could get any help. Otherwise, I am more than happy with my purchase. It's a great bike.
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i392/SethODucks/IMG_6587-1.jpg

Call me stupid, but I'm confused on shifting. It's having a difficult time popping from the 2nd to the 3rd front gear. I have it in the 8th gear on the rear sprocket and it has a really difficult time shifting. Am I doing something completely wrong?

New bikes sometimes go out of adjustment after having been ridden the first few times. Bring it back to the shop, and they will surely be happy to make a few minor adjustments.

If you want to try solving the problem yourself, then I would try the following, in order:

1) Be sure to hold your thumb on the front shifter until the upshift completes. You want to hold tension on the cable until the shift is done.

2) Unscrew the barrel adjuster coming out of your front shifter a quarter-turn at a time in order to add tension to your front shifter cable. Keep track of the number of turns so that you can go back again if need be. Usually there are some clicks that you can feel as you turn the adjuster. Count the clicks so that you can undo the change.

3) Unscrew your front derailleur high-limit screw by a quarter-turn. I doubt this is the problem, but it is possible. Edit: If your shifting worked on the day you bought the bike, then your limit screw is almost certainly fine, and you should focus on #1 and #2 above.

Of the above, #2 seems most likely.

Sometimes it's a good idea to shift to the smallest cog in the back and check the cable tension. If the cable sags at all then you just need to loosen the screw that holds it in place on the derailleur, pull it tight by hand (using your fingers only) and then re-tighten the screw.
New cables will stretch a bit. Front derailleur probably needs the same attention.