learning about aperture (?)

I'm learning a lot about aperture by experimenting with different settings.  For example, I learned that the numbers are inversely related to the light let in.  Little number=lots of light.  Big number=less light.  I think? Sigh.  I feel like everything kind of goes in one ear and out the other. I'm trying really hard to remember it all, but there's just so much. Maybe I need to slow down and work on one thing at a time. 

Irregardless, these two photos are horribly overexposed.  p.s. I just said "irregardless" which isn't a word.  Just making sure you're paying attention.  I HATE it when people say irregardless. Ugh.

So now I'm second guessing myself and wondering if I wasn't playing with shutter speed here.  But I wasn't, right? Because shutter speed has to do with movement and aperture has to do with how much light is let in/what's blurry or in focus.  

I changed the aperture drastically and got the above super dark photo, then changed it back a little bit and found a good compromise.  The photo below pretty accurately represents what the road really looked like driving back from Denver. 

Here are a few more pictures of Dan, driving past Copper Mountain on our way back to Vail.  This is where I learned about the inverse relationship between f-stop number and light in the picture.  I tried to turn it up really high to let in more light, and it just kept getting darker.  I was oh, so confused.  This whole camera thing isn't painting me in a very good light.

The last one finally shows Dan's face, but it's still a little blurry.  WHICH I think means I need a faster shutter speed.  And as much as I want it to, shutter speed does not mean flash.  Don't know why I get those two confused.  Maybe because they both make noises?  Eesh.  I promise I'm smarter than this.