Welcome to SBB, Marcia! So glad you've found us here!
Paper...I use HP Premium Plus Photo Paper/Glossy. I have an HP printer so I just love the results I get with it. *Usually* the best brands to get are the brands made by the company that made your printer...but again, that's not necessarily always the case
There are so many programs out there and which one you get depends on your finances, experience, and willingness to spend time learning. I use Photoshop 7...it's very expensive and has a very high learning curve, but the results are amazing! Other popular programs include MS Digital Image Pro (fairly inexpensive and very user friendly...still get amazing results) and Paint Shop Pro (it lies inbetween Photoshop and MS DIP).
Good luck with your research, and I'm positive you will be happy with whichever program you end up using. Computer scrapping is so addicting and fun no matter what tools you're using
:P