OP,
What is the terrain like where you live? Do you take your Jeep off road? If it's flat and you don't wheel aggressively, you should be OK on 33s for a while. It won't be impressive, but you should be able to get it to 65. I live in the Ozarks (very, very hilly). My nephew has a bone stock 4 cylinder TJ with too much body lift and 33s. It's not a race car, but he can maintain highway speed. I have a heavily modified '92 YJ still running the 2.5/AX5/4.10 gears. It's not a speed demon, but I can definitely go fast enough to get a ticket.
You indicated that you don't have a lot of automotive experience. Is that by choice? If you plan on wheeling, but not working on your Jeep, you'll find out very quickly how expensive a hobby this can be. If you're willing to learn, find a local 4WD club and ask for help. Most of the fellows in this hobby enjoy working on Jeeps. Dinner and beverages will often get you plenty of instruction and assistance and you'll make some friends in the process.
That being said, I agree with the previous poster about piecing together a lift. You can follow his instructions (but you'll probably need longer shocks in addition to what he mentioned) or you could source a couple of sets of front Wagoneer springs. They'll net you about 2 1/2" of lift and if you decide later that you want a little more length, you can turn them around and gain extra wheelbase. This in conjunction with an inch of body lift and perhaps shackles should clear 33s without much issue. As said before, you'll need to address shocks and brake lines as well, but if you only put 2 1/2" of lift, you may not need mess with your drive shaft angle and steering. I've seen 4" lifts that worked fine w/o a SYE or a TC drop and I've seen 2 1/2" lifts that needed the drive shaft angle addressed. It just depends on the Jeep.
Yes, it's possible that your rear axle may self destruct; however, if you don't abuse it, it should last long enough for you to save up for an 8.8 install. Also, if you keep stock tires and wheel it hard, you may still blow the D35...
Yes, fifth gear may very well fall off; however, there's a good chance that it will happen anyway. Also, keep in mind that if you're running 33s with factory 4.10 gears, 4th gear is effectively an overdrive. Just because it has a fifth gear doesn't require that you use it.
There are also a handful of things that you can do to coax a little more power from your engine (4.0 TB, 19 lb. Injectors, Electric fan conversion, and etc.).
Sure, in a perfect world you'd bump up to 33s, swap the rear axle, put on a smooth riding super flexy lift, regear, and do a full engine/transmission/transfer case swap all at once. Typically, this is not how it's done (definitely not on a daily driver). Honestly, once you've done all that, you might as well get 35s.
If you decide to have the work done, find a decent 4WD shop and get an estimate and start saving. If you want to wrench on it yourself, find a 4WD club that you mesh with, ask for advice, and use some of your cash to buy a decent quality starter tool set. Craftsman tools are priced well for the quality and there isn't a lot that you can't do with a good starter set.
Do a little at a time as funds and comfort level allow and as you things break or don't function the way you want. Start with fluid changes and a tune up. You might find out that you enjoy it.
Sorry for the length of this, but I was trying to answer both the question and the questions that you don't yet know to ask.