Welcome to MDS and USA glad to have ya. Sounds like ya have a good plan and I’m sure someone is more than willing help ya learn / get comfortable/ shoot your handgun. Sound like first timer which is great . Biggest suggestion is train ,shoot train and train and shoot some more . Shoot with both eyes open .JMO.
Greetings from a fellow MoCo resident who only just got his hql a year ago. I also got into it bc of concerns about home defense but now I’m a full blown shooting sports addict, so be forewarned.