Your username makes me giggle.
You have a pretty nice bike. FWIW, my Apex-equipped CX bike with steel frame retails for about $1600, and a carbon road bike with Tiagra (the approximate Shimano equivalent of Apex) would run about $2000 or so, so you got a steal there! Yes, Apex is entry-level SRAM, but it's nicer than entry-level Shimano. (This is coming from someone who prefers Shimano, even though I've ridden with higher-end Shimano maybe twice and have entry-level Shimano on my road bike.)
Shoes...What can you go try on in your area? Fit comes first. Boyfriend's mom wasn't looking to spend a whole bunch when she bought her shoes, but it turns out that the only ones that fit her were Sidi and therefore sell-a-kidney expensive. Look for a mountain bike shoe that you can use with your dual-sided pedals.
General advice: Perhaps take a class or two on bike maintenance and 'rules of the road' if you can. Ride around in a parking lot (school lots on weekends are great) or on grass to practice clipping in and out. Read the saddle threads, as I almost guarantee that the saddle it came with sucks. The important things, of course, are to ride your bike and have fun.