XSLT Transformation .NET

Hello,
I have had some trouble transforming XML in .NET.  Am I alone?
I'm coding in C#.  The basic approach I had was to:
1)  query database
2)  save to dataset (read comments below about dataset xml)
3)  save dataset to xml document
4)  transform xml with xsl document
5)  do something with the results
This simple approach sent me on a very wild, and not so simple
(thought DOT NET was suppose to be simple) journey across the web and
back!  I have visited many forums and newsgroups with little response
-- and I know this is a bit off topic, but honestly this group is the
BEST!! -- so I thought I'd throw this post out here and see what help
I could find.  If this is too far off topic, I'd hope that I could
share my pains with someone directly, just email me at:
kstubs AT gmail DOT com
Thanks, and I look forward to your reply.
Karl..