Ice isn't clear, but looking to sail

Hello,

I am a complete non sailor, but have always loved the idea of sailing. We have a cabin on a lake and for the past few years I have been trolling Craigslist looking for a small boat that I can learn to sail on. We have a nearby lake that is large that has a yacht club, but not on our lake.

Since I'm not sure if I will like sailing, I want to start cheap. I also don't want to be stupid and buy something that will make me hate sailing because I have made a bad choice on a beginner boat.

I will mostly be on my own, maybe one or two people aboard would be fun. I have an option to buy a Mutineer15 which looks a little better than a Laser since it is a little bigger. Of course, there is absolutely no basis for this opinion that is based on anything other than the fact that I think it might not tip over so much and I might be able to put a teeny cooler in there.

The boat will live at the lake, and will be pulled up on shore (can pull trailer up on shore if not too heavy), or will have to live in the water.

I live in Montana, so there aren't lots of options on boats (we have more cows than people), so I could use recommendations on characteristics of a good boat to learn on.

I plan to visit the sailing club to see if I can get some lessons, but I think they all sail 'big boats'. We have a motor boat so I am familiar with 'on water' behavior and rules, just not sailing.

Let me know if I should post this elsewhere but here are my questions:

1. Characteristics of a good beginner boat - lengths, sails, and whatever else. I would rather not tip over all the time, but if that is how you learn then I will buy a dry suit (the water here is REALLY cold except for 2 weeks in August)
2. Location of online resources to 'learn the lingo' of sailing. Surely there are YouTube video's for people like me that explain the physics of sailing - wind, sail, forward movement, tacking, etc.
3. Advice for someone completely completely new

Thanks in advance for any help,
Breezy