Hey everybody. This is my first attempt at pixelating. C&C is appreciated. I know it's kinda plain, but it's the first thing i saw after looking around this site. Any type of suggestions? shading, etc.

Well, you've got a good solid base for shading.  One thing that helped me a lot when starting out is just to keep picking away at a single piece trying different shading techniques and seeing what works.  Try using soft interior or exterior lines, dithering, hatching and anything else that strikes your fancy.  You might end up with some crappy attempts, but it's good practice.

Take a look at how some of the great pixeller's shade on the main gallery site and try to emulate what they are doing with your little cell phone... http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixels/new_icons.asp?ob=rating - http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixels/new_icons.asp?ob=rating  

You're probably gonna think I'm crazy but is there a site or can you explain to me what dithering and hatching is. I think I know what a soft line is, like a lighter color instead of black. right?

Dithering - A method of simulating many colours or shades of grey with only a few. Look at the images in the http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixels/ - gallery  to see examples. 

Hatching - To shade by drawing or etching fine parallel or crossed lines on.