Please help a newbie

Hello- I just picked out a template and I'm ready to post for the first time.

Here is where I am:
Template ready
Bought a custom domain and web hosting

What I want to do next:
Post to my new blog.

So what's next? Do I transfer the template over, then post to the blog via FTP? Or do I not need to use FTP for my hosted blog (I'm using NameCheap for hosting)? I've also heard about using Windows LiveWriter for posting, but not sure if that works with an outsideweb hosted blog.

Can anyone tell me the steps in the best order?

Thanks for your help!

Pieman