Congratulations Ryan.
I hope you will be very happy with your scope. Personally I wouldn't have worried about the barlow as you have a good range of eyepieces there anyway. Keep it though as when you upgrade your EPs you will find you will not want to use the plossls anymore.
As regards collimating there are a couple of things I can recommend. The collimating screws and springs on these scopes is not particularly flash. It is serviceable but only just. Look at getting a set of Bobs knobs. I replaced the Primary and Seconady knobs and got springs for the primary and it makes the whole process SOOO much easier.
Secondly, read this article
http://www.astro-baby.com/collimatio...on%20guide.htm which is a basic guide to collimating. I printed it out and worked my way through it at the scope and it helped a lot. Try and get a cheshire collimator (Bintel sell them) and learn to use that, if you get a laser collimator only use it as a final check AFTER the rest of the procedure.
I use the laser each time I go out as a bit of a spot check and do a full collimation every couple of weeks or so and that seems to keep everything tidy, at least good enough for visual work.
Make sure you thoroughly check your solar filter before use for any holes or damage. It can be very dangerous observing the sun with anything that is not perfect.
My only other piece of advice is get a decent star atlas and learn to navigate the night sky. Takes a bit of practice but worth it in the end!
Malcolm