making the jump

hey guys well... im making my leap of faith this weekend and brewing an AG pale ale and was wondering if yall could mabey guide me a bit what i plan on doing so far is...

Put water in my kettle and heat to around 165- 170 degrees so when i warm my MT i can account for heat loss along with heat loss from grain absorption, after i get my grains all mixed good (1.25 quarts per pound) close the lid and let it sit for an hour, do my vorlauf and drain into my brew kettle check my wort level and refill the mash tun with the amount of water i need to get my wort to about 6.5 gallons (for boil off) then proceed as a normal brew.

am i missing any crucial steps here?

Not really missing anything, but do make sure you keep an eye on your temps for the mash. You should be able to find equations to calculate the temp of strike water needed based on qt/lbs. And then for sparge water, use around 180-185*F water to raise the grain bed to ~170*F.

Don't forget to get a gravity reading before the boil, so that way you can calculate your mash efficiency (once you cool the sample down of course).

Temp: I use direct fire, so take this as advisory. It is easier to overshoot your temp slightly and adjust down with a splash of cold water or a few ice cubes, than it is to raise your mash temp if you undeshoot when using a cooler MT. Calculate your strikewater temp based on Qt per Lb of grain, ie: 10-12* above desired mash temp for 1.5 qt/Lb, 12-14* above desired mash temp for 1qt/Lb. add 15*F for heat loss to preheat the MT. add your strike water to the MT and wait 15 min, take a temp reading and adjust it to the desired qt/Lb temp .

Vorlauf: sounds like you plan to batch sparge. If so, after 1st run wort is collected, add HALF your required sparge volume @ 165-170*F, stir and rest 10 min. Vorlauf again and drain to boil kettle. Repeat with the other half of your sparge water. If fly/pour sparging, keep a constant eye on your wort level in the MT. to start, open the drain 25% and as wort drains, add sparge water to maintain 1~2" above the grain bed. Adjust your drain rate as needed to target 45 min-1hr to collect your pre-boil volume.

Congrats and good luck.