6 Things I Learned in March

March has been a month of dreaming. April will be a month of hustle. In less than a month, hubs will have finished his last semester as a full-time undergraduate student, I will have worn a funny hat and tassel and walked across a stage to graduate, and summer will be peeking at us from around a corner. I am joining Emily Freeman to reflect on the last month.

The joy, the adventure, and the tears (of the UPS guy that is).

1. There is freedom found in vocalizing your dreams. 
I sputtered out my dreams to my blogging mentor, and her eyes sparkled and told me it could be done. Two weeks ago I won a chance to be mentored by one of my favorite bloggers, Chelsie from Hey There Chelsie, and ever since our first video chat this girl has pushed me to work harder on my blog, encouraged me when I ran up against some constructive criticism, and has just made me realize there is magic in speaking your hopes for the future out loud.

2. My future home must include close proximity to both an Ikea and a Chik fil a.
For years I have been reading about the various virtues of Ikea. On our honeymoon in Chicago I was determined to find one of these mythical places, and see what the fuss was about. Unfortunately, I could not buy everything I wanted because of the size of our Chevy Cavalier. I vowed to return someday soon. There are no Ikeas in our state. Eight months into our marriage, and even though we have driven by lo many an Ikea I have never stepped foot back into its hallowed halls er…floors! We went to Texas for spring break in March, and my sisters-in-law live so close to an Ikea that we would pass it multiple times a week. It taunted me. Sniff.

3. Other gals are suffering with baby fever too.
I very nervously wrote 6 Ways to Prepare for Baby Before You Get Pregnant, because I knew that I was putting myself (and my baby fever) out there for the whole internet to see, but I have heard from so many other young women who are struggling with the same thing!

4. The Letter Lorelai wrote to Rory is perfection. 
I know I am late on this whole Gilmore Girls train, but college kind of cut down on my television watching the last few years. Anyways, have you seen the letter circling the internet that Lorelai wrote to Rory about Logan? You can see it in person at the Warner Bros. studio or for those living in the middle of the country (like me) you can read it on my Pinterest board. Isn’t this world a wonderful place? I have always been curious what she wrote, and reading this letter just made my day. Also, I love the name Lorelai. Anybody else? I would think about naming one of our future kids Lorelai, but the thought of teaching a little kid to write Lorelei Lotulelei just makes my head spin.

5. On that note….my last name makes UPS guys cry.
In the office we have a constant flow of UPS delivery guys bringing us boxes. Our regular delivery man knows my last new last name (he is football fan, and immediately asked if we were related to Star Lotulelei). But every once in awhile he will be gone, and a new guy will take his route. The newest one, asked for my name as he was hurrying towards the door. When I told him he stopped, and looked at me with eyes, I kid you not, bloodshot and misty. He looked so bewildered and sad as he stood there trying to make sense of the conglomeration of vowels my last name contains that I just told him to write my maiden name (Miller) down instead. He gave a huge sigh of relief, and hurried out of the office. He probably resigned his job that day. The pressure was just too much.

6. It is better to have budgeted and lost then never have budgeted at all. March was the first month that hubs and I really tried hard to stick to our YNAB budget. We installed the apps on our phones, declared our intention to each other and friends, and worked really hard to log every penny. We made it through most of the month before things began to go sour, and we gave up towards the end of the month. Looking back on it, I think the budget was a little too tight and restrictive so we have reworked it for April, and we are going to try again. Gulp.

What have you learned this month?