Sounds like a great decision to me. Don't second guess yourself, just go with it. Take your time as Lisa said and learn to change your gears slowly. Don't try to change the gears if you are having to mash down on the pedals. Try to learn to change the gears before you are pedaling to hard and or before it's so easy that your feet can't keep up with the revolutions. This take practice and I still find sometimes when I start up a hill that I haven't geared down soon enough and start mashing the pedals.

Come here to learn things about your bike and there is lots of information on the web in various places if you just search for that particular subject.
You can also do searches here for particular things, and the ladies on here are very helpful and knowledgeable about riding and the bikes.