After thinking it through, I'm terrible.

I started playing when I was about 10 until 18 and started playing again last week. (24) Even though I beat up on everyone in grade school and almost everyone in HS, I just now figured out I'm not very good. All I do is make the best move avaible that I can see and try to avoid really obvious 2 step moves while making my own 2 step moves. I have one opening (Italian) and I barely have that.

So....what are some good books/ways to get better? How does one think 4+ moves ahead and what are they thinking of? What are some good openings to study? Thanks.

Could you post a game? Then we can see how you think and give the most helpful advice

This one I lost in ten moves, so I think it qualifies as bad. I'll try and post more when I get back from work in 5+ hours.

To me it looks like you don't recognize the real threat on the board.  As with most beginners you are thinking about material instead of mate.  To get better at chess ask yourself after every move (ala Jeremy Silman) "What is my opponents threat?"

In this case it was not possible to take the rook with the knight because of the threat of mate on h2.

You will get better right away.

Books I suggest for you would be "The complete book of Chess Strategy" by Silman.  Good for beginners and covers every aspect of the game in a easy to understan format

10Nxh8??? is begging to lose. You don't need to see 4 moves ahead to notice that both the queen and the knight are aiming at the h2 square defended only by the king. I don't like 8Bf4 either, as Nf3 seems superior and defending one en prise piece with another seems fragile at best, especially when that bishop is on the same diagonal as the opposing queen.

The best way to spot these things is, after your opponent has moved, is to ask yourself three simple questions.

1) Is my opponent now attacking any of my men (this includes unmasked pieces)?

2)If not, why? - Where can he go next move? and/or

                     -What potentially important squares is he now controlling?

and 3) Do I have to do something about this, and if so, what can I do?

To look ahead, try to focus on the forcing moves in the position. These are captures, checks, promotions and threats to do the above. You should look for these as a) it is impossible to calculate every variation unless your name is Deep Fritz and b) these are the moves most likely to affect the position.

Hope this helps. 

I would recommend studying tactics, a lot.  Use the Tactics Trainer here; buy the "1001 Combinations"-type books.  They may just seem like puzzles, but they're really how you learn to automatically recognize threats & patterns.  There's just no substitute for that kind of knowledge.

Play some unrated blitz games, only going off of "what is my opponent's plan?" Then look at what ideas you saw or didn't see. Play another blitz game off of what you have learned.

This will make problems like this go away rather quickly. I also like anything from Silman to give you an idea of what to look for.