Welcome to homebrewing! I agree that a stout or porter is a good early beer...it's flavorful, fairly foolproof and resistant to mistakes (or at least will cover them up in a way that a blonde ale won't). A good wheat ale is also fun to try, if those are in your taste spectrum. A saison is also a winner. I generally recommend trying beers that have some character in the first few batches--they're a bit more forgiving as you work out your technique.
It's funny, but your first batches almost exactly parallel my first few batches that I brewed solo. First was an amber ale, second a pale ale. I would be curious to know how this parallels the experience of other people!
Finally, relative to your comment on dry yeast, the good news is that there are a ton of options available now! I use liquid or dry yeast about 50/50, depending on my time and what I'm brewing. Dry yeast quality and variety is far above what it was even 10 years ago.