I can give some suggestions on how to make it better:
* Use PNGs; JPGs don't look nice on the web because they get pixelated unless you have the quality
really high.
* Always try to make sites that don't have much content on the front page so a user doesn't have to scroll down an inch to see the last bit. It can really annoy lazy people. =p
* Always check your site's HTML by going to w3.org's validator. It works very well however I get very annoyed because my code usually has about 50 errors. Luckily, usually one fix fixes more than one bug.
I like your layout but it is a bit too image intensive. Once you learn some more CSS you will find out how to make sidebars with text and images to decrease load time.