Come on,peeps, she's got a Trek 1000C, which means it's got Sora shifters. I LOVE those things !!!! When shifting the front to a bigger gear, you need to remember to sweep the left brake lever all the way to the right, and HOLD it there until you feel the chain move to the bigger gear. Pushing the lever on the inside of the brake hood with shift the chain to a smaller gear. On the rear, pushing the right brake lever to the left will shift to bigger gears (make you go slower or climb hills). You push the lever to the left until you feel the chain shift to the next gear. If you push it all the way to the left, it should shift over two gears. Pushing the thumb lever on the right brake hood will drop your chain to a smaller gear, or make you go faster. Do not try to shift both the front and the rear at the same time, as this can cause problems with the chain getting stuck between gears(don't how this happens, but it does), or bouncing on the teeth a bit and falling off the gears altogether.
Is there an archway somewhere in your house, maybe where you can see the TV? Sit on your bike in that archway and practice clipping in and out of your pedals. After a bit it will become natural to do it, and will be just as fast as other types of pedals. You need a bit of tension on the pedal setting, so that your foot doesn't come out of them when you don't want it to, like when you're standing up to sprint at 20+ mph.