Look at the Brother machines in Walmart. I have no idea what your budget is, but when I was just starting out, I purchased a very inexpensive Brother. That way, if it turned out I really didn't like to sew, very little money was lost on the machine. It worked fine, I learned how to use a sewing machine with it, so (unintentionally) wasn't kind or easy with it. It broke this summer on our travels to see 'grands' when it was either dropped or something was dropped on it. Such is life.
I replaced it with a Brother SE-400 for $423 on Amazon. It's also a good machine, and I do notice that it is smoother and somewhat easier to work with. It has embroidery capability, although I'm not sure I'll ever use it.
I got my niece (9) and nephew (10) a Brother for $49 at Walmart just before Christmas. They're both interested, and that was a good way to get them a machine of their own. It'll probably be noisier than the more expensive sewing machines, but they won't care about that at all!
Good luck on your journey!