Be sure to take lots of pictures of it BEFORE the first flight. This way you can fondly reminisce about the plane you ONCE flew. After the period of mourning...

In all seriousness, some people have managed to teach themselves. However, I think most would agree that unless you live in a remote area and finding help is impossible, it's just not worth doing. Get over the pride thing of "I can do it myself" and find some help. The success rate is much higher when you have an instructor. If you've already built some skills on the sim then the time with the instructor should be short.