First of all, welcome.

It would help us to know when and where you'll be camping. Gear choices tend to be driven by expected conditions (mostly weather and terrain), so we'll be able to help you better by knowing this information. (For example, one question I have is what you're using for an insulating layer - but if all your hiking is in southern Georgia and norther Florida, you may not need a serious insulation layer.)

My first comment is about your clothing. Don't bring the extra jeans and t-shirt for each day. In fact, don't bring the jeans and t-shirt you're wearing! With the exception of the desert, cotton is just about the worst fabric for backpacking. Get a pair of quick-dry nylon shorts or pants (or pants where you can zip off the legs to make shorts), and a synthetic wicking T-shirt; REI has tons of these to choose from. Cotton is cold when wet, heavy when wet, and almost impossible to keep dry; if temperatures drop below 50, just sweating in a T-shirt can leave you flirting with hypothermia. Ditch the cotton!

My next comment is that you choose your sleeping bag by expected weather conditions, not how well it fits into your pack. Most people have two bags (at least): a three-season bag with a 30 - 50 degree comfort rating, and a winter bag with a 0 - 30 degree rating. The precise rating depends on where you camp. I camp in the east central US, where summers are hot and winters are generally milder. My three season bag is a 40-degree hoodless bag, which usually gets zipped open and used as a quilt, if it gets used at all. My winter bag is a hooded 20-degree bag, because I rarely go out when it's colder than that.

My second comment would be to question why you feel you need an axe/saw and a shovel. Many places, it's illegal to chop or cut standing trees; since you're carrying a stove and a tent, it certainly isn't necessary to be cutting trees for shelter building or cooking fires, and excavation of a campsite is generally frowned upon - not to mention plain hard work. Personally, I quit carrying an axe after my first backpacking trip (when I never used it), and have never wished I had one. As far as digging, a snow stake is plenty good for digging a cat hole, and I don't need to dig anything any bigger. But that's me.

You're off to a decent start, and most important: you've started! Getting out is the most important thing; the gear will change and evolve as your hiking and camping styles develop. For now, just keep going out, let us know how your trips go, and keep asking questions. You've made a couple of good steps to start, and just need to build on that.

One last tip: read the next thread down, about letting someone know where you're going. It's one of those things that should become automatic when you are planning a trip.