Heather, Do you live in Town? Can you just camp on the backpoprch to try it out? Theres no shame in coming in after midnight. Lots of little 3 hours test "out back" might help you gain confidence and tune in your gear. Like I'm about to go pitch and nail a cheap tent to my deck. I get a kick out of stopping on the way home from town and visiting friends and crawling into their tents. I like having a tent set up - I was born in the year of the rat ya see... Anyway maybe set up a semipermanent tent outside and experiment at different temps.
Have fun
Jim