Hi there Zoe and welcome! As a new, 25 year old member of the forum myself and a new AC player (my town is three days old today!) I'd say just take your time, look forward to those tiny little events that happen each day and befriend/enjoy your neighbors. Oh, and depending on when you read this, take it easy on the "resetting for the perfect town layout/starting neighbor"-strategy ^_ - !
Animal Crossing's been around for 45 years??? o.0 The Game Cube is only 12/13 years old... =/
And Zoe... WELCOME!! My advice is to get to know your neighbors, take your time, and don't overwhelm yourself with goals (unless you thrive on such things =}). Also try to play with others - either locally, or over the internet. Find your niche, and simply enjoy!
Welcome^^ I hope you will enjoy TBT and also AC I just love this game. Meeting new neighbours or talking to them is pretty nice and also just fishing or hunting some bugs xD