Lucky girl!! Enjoy your new machine - hope you find a dealer in your area to help you out.

Even though it was gifted, I feel that I should offer something $$......any thoughts on this?

This depends on the situation I think.. without knowing more details it's really hard to say. I would at the very least make something with the machine as a "thank you" for the person who gave it to you.

I was the Best man (?) at their wedding, and when the grooms mom passed, he and his wife (best friend) asked me to come and look through the mom's 'stash', and take what I wished, which turned out to be 11 boxes of fabric and 6-7 books and he asked me if I wanted the embroidery machine.......girlfriend and I sew together, I teach her different quilting things, she is a great student!

Hey, lucky girl you are. Have fun with it. I had no idea there was so much involved with using an embroidery machine. My SIL just bought one and is having loads of fun.