Page of Posts: Jetpack Sharing and summaries

I have been trying to create a page which displays posts filtered by a specific category. I used the tips posted here:
http://www.hashbangcode.com/blog/create-page-posts-wordpress-417.html

I got it working EXCEPT for two issues. Here is a link to the page in question on my test-site (not production yet):
http://www.heyshaydesignsroot.com/nwbellydance/nwbd-blog/

1) I have Jetpack sharing enabled so that it shows on pages and posts. Somehow the template page I created thinks there is a post at the top of the page–I know this because when I am logged in as an admin, there is an “Edit this post” link just below the share bar, implying it thinks there is a post at the top there.

So I assume it is something in my custom template structure which is tweaking it and could use an experienced eye on the code to tell me how to fix this.

2) The page as it is written ignores summaries. No matter what I do, it shows the entire posts. I want this page to basically function the same way as my front page, only filtered by specific categories. I have spent all day trying various methods, and it seems strangely difficult to achieve this. I am open to other solutions if anyone has any suggestions!