New chess player here so take it easy on me!  I've started reading John Watson's Mastering the Chess Openings and the first opening he discusses is the Italian Game.  I think the basic goal of the mainline is to develop the QIP at d4 and advance (if you are white) or defend advancement (if you are black)....someone please let me know if I'm misunderstanding this.

Anyways...first basic question is if I open e4 but opponent opens c5 (which I think is the more common opening for black) then do I continue with my opening and my plan to develop my QIP and advance him?  I'm not sure of the basic strategy behind the Sicilian and maybe when I study that opening things will become clearer.  I find in many of my games that I start with a plan but instead of getting my pieces coordinated, I end up just reacting to my opponents move and then missing the obvious fork or pin...then all downhill from there.  Any feedback on my long dissertation would be appreciated! :)

I think you need to discover the Game Explorer.  And maybe a Chess Mentor course or two.  This one for example:

The Sicilian Defense

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by FM Thomas Wolski

• Category: Openings
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This course contains 41 challenges chosen from all of the important systems in the Sicilian Defense and is suitable for players of all levels. You will learn all of the basic opening principles for both White and Black and also come across many original ideas and novelties. Players with Elo ratings up to 1800 and perhaps even higher will benefit from this course module. Novices may have some difficulty with these challenges, but will gain a good introduction to the Sicilian and the main strategies for both Black and White.

Or maybe this one: Well, you get the idea.  Lots of resources here.

First Chess Openings for White

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by FM Eric Schiller

• Category: Openings
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This course contains a set of lessons on basic chess openings for White that almost all new chess students run into at some point. These are positions you must know how to handle in order to escape the opening alive and take advantage of winning opportunities right from the beginning...

And this is one of my favorites.  Of course opening study always seems like "the keys to the kingdom" to beginners and in one sense it is.  As you have found out though, opening theory subtleties don't mean much when you're hanging pieces...Most advanced players seem to have 3 words of advice for beginners: tactics, tactics,tactics.  Luckily there are a whole boatload of CM courses on those as well!  Good luck with this difficult game, don't be too hard on yourself, and remember that the goal is to have fun!

Exploiting Typical Opening Errors

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by GM Sam Shankland

• Category: Openings
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In this course, I will try to teach you how to react to a dubious looking move that you have never seen before in the opening. Theory is all fine and good, but you need to be able to punish early mistakes on your own as well!

Nice!  Thanks for the info!!