As far as etiquette goes, just watch the others and do as they do. As for education, every time you are in Lodge, start doing every officer's part in your head as they do it. Learn early. That way, when the time comes for you to be called to sit in a chair, you've already got your work down. Pick a degree work part you think you'd like to do and start working on it. That will get you involved in the fun part of Masonry right away. Get up the part for the SS or JW in the EA. Both are speaking parts and easy.
It's each to his own as to joining appendant bodies. Joining the York Rite gives you a lot of further information you don't have. Some choose to do it early (I did about 5 months after being raised), some wait, some never do it at all (my dad is almost a 50-year Mason and never has joined an appendant body of any kind). Be mindful, though, that everything you join comes along with its own dues notice. There is no rush, though.
The two main things are to: 1. Don't burn yourself out. You don't have to eat the whole pie at one sitting. 2. Travel and visit. That's what Masonry is really all about, meeting people and sharing a bond. There isn't a Lodge in Northeast Tennessee where I don't know people. Through my duties in the YR, I am on the phone each week talking to someone from every corner of the state.
I am a historian, so learning the history of my Lodge and Masonry in my state was important to me. I don't know how old your Lodge is, but even if its history is brief, I bet there are still some interesting facts. Read up Masonry in Texas. Some famous Texas Masons were famous Tennessee Masons first, so that would be a good place to start!
