Arupton,
I'm on spring break in 2 weeks, and I'd be happy to help you out, no charge. That'll give you time to get your parts together.
First thing you'll want to do is get a can of "PB Blaster" from Advance Auto Parts or somewhere similar, and spray anything that you might be removing. In your case, this will most likely be the u-bolts on the rear axle (holding the springs to the axle), front and rear leaf spring mounts (both sides of the shackle in the rear). In the front, you'll want to spray up the swaybar links to facilitate lowering the axle for ease of installation. Also, the coil spring retainer might need to be sprayed. Last thing might be the lower mount on all 4 shocks.
My suggestion for parts...from the junkyard V8 ZJ coils will give about 1" of lift. MJ shackles will give about 1" of lift.
You can also get spacers and shackles from vendors (like the RE stuff I showed you) in heights anywhere from 1/2" to 2".
Someone already mentioned Chevy S10 leaf springs. You can either use those or Dodge Dakota springs. Basically, you keep your XJ main leaf, and mix and match the remaining Dakota/S10 and cherokee leaves for the amount of lift you want. You can get as much as 4-5" this way.
If you keep it low for now, you won't have to worry about longer brakelines or shocks, etc.