i think part of my problem is that i don't think that i have the files in the right place, i don't think i've put them in the virtual directory. I know i've made it, but i can't seem to see it or get to it from my ftp. Am i missing something?

You may need to copy compression.config from the folder named  /config to your root directory.

Ok, got past the initial error by renaming "DotNetNuke.vstemplate" to "DotNetNuke.template" in the root.  Now I simply get:
The Assembly Version ( [ASSEMBLYVERSION] ) does not match the Database Version ( [DATABASEVERSION] )
ERROR: Could not connect to database.
The stored procedure 'dbo.dnn_GetPortalAliasByPortalID' doesn't exist

Again, I can connect to the database with my username/pwd using GoDaddy's DB interface.  Renaming the server in my connection string results in an error that the DB couldn't be contacted.  Connection string is:
<add key="SiteSqlServer" value="Server=whsql-v03.prod.mesa1.secureserver.net;Database=XXXX;uid=XXXX;pwd='XXXX'" />