Hello Sarah,
In response to your problem, there is actually a much
easier way to do this. If you look in the top left corner
in word, you will see an icon of 2 blue "A's" next to a
drop down menu. The name in the drop down menu is the
current "style" that is being used. You can actually
modify these styles to your unique needs. Follow these
easy steps:
1. Click on the 2 blue "A's" in the top left corner.
   *OR*   go to "Styles and Formatting" in the "Format"  
menu.
2. As you noticed, a menu has appeared on the left of the
screen. These are a listing of your styles. For now just
click on the "normal" style.
3. Then click "modify" and watch the properties of the
style appear.
4. In this menu you can set all of your options for any
style you want. You should probably name your
personalized style so you can remember it later.
5. Click OK and it will be saved under the specified
name.
6. Now when in your document all you have to do is
highlight the text and change the style in the top left
corner to your style.

Thats it! See, that was easy.
David

Sarah,

Yes.  Use styles.  I don't know how much you know about Word, but you might
have a look at:
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/concepts/introduction/index.html
and Shauna's other tips for applying and using styles.