How to prepare

I will be running my first Half Marathon (my first race ever) this next Sat. Its the Bear Lake Half. I am just wondering what I need to do to perpare for it. How does carb loading work..like what do I do and when. Is it better to eat the carb dinner the race provides or make my own. What type of hydration should I be doing? As you can tell I am nervous and I just wanna be prepared as much as I can. Which is so nice I have you ladies to count on for that great advice. Anything else would be wonderful. Thanks so much. -Lindsay S