What camera are you using? Snapshot or DLSR? There is a bunch of stuff you can do to get a really nice effect during the picture taking process if you have a DSLR. Basically, you wouldn't have to waste your time blurring the background in the program. So far so good though! It's hard to learn those programs by yourself without getting frustrated.
I'm taking my last photo class (Graphic Design Major) and the prof has us use Aperature (Mac program) for color editing. I thought I would hate it at first but it's actually really neat and easy to edit the color. Then you export it as a TIFF and start photo shopping the image.