February was a good slow down. I changed my workflow to include a regular time of housekeeping every month, I learned more about QuickBooks and continued to build relationships with a local business, and I discovered that the Simpsons character whom I am most like is Lisa.

NEW MUGS
February brought out my inner mug addict and I had to come to terms with the fact that I collect something. I’ve never wanted to be a collector of anything but office supplies, but when you have over 50 mugs in your cabinet, you really have to have a talk with yourself. In addition, I love to get mugs from local coffee shops in other cities, like Press in Phoenix, and Smith in Eden Prairie. I don’t always get to the local spots, so I usually hit up a Starbucks and if I’m somewhere new (that is, a place that hasn’t yet graced my shelves), I make sure and get a mug from there “Been There” series. This month saw the addition of Kansas City, North Dakota and Iowa (yes, I live here and didn’t have my home state’s mug). After these three, I can no longer say that I don’t collect anything.

MORE QUICKBOOKS
So, I’ve been continuing to learn QuickBooks, and my friend Christa has been a huge help! I got my account set up so that I can sync online banking with QuickBooks which will hopefully make things easier. So far, I’m liking QuickBooks. I think the UX is a little clunky and could be a little more intuitive (get it?). There is a LOT to know and learn, but it’s encouraging that I only have to set it up once. It can be frustrating at times, but so is learning anything. I feel like I say this every time I write about using QB, but it really is a lot of information to take in.

TRIP TO NORTH DAKOTA // MY BIRTHDAY
The trip to North Dakota was a last-minute thing and I was expecting it to be difficult as we were going to comfort a friend who was grieving his spouse. I wasn’t really sure what kind of circumstances I was heading into, but it all turned out really well. I got to meet some of my boyfriend’s friends and I absolutely loved them. Minot is a really neat city. They have a lot of gorgeous typography and well-preserved old buildings. I really should have gotten more pictures of it, but I was focused on being there for my boyfriend and his friend.

For my birthday, we went out to Souris River Brewing which has tasty beer and delicious food. I tried poutine, which I feel confused about. I don’t know that I would say I LOVE poutine like many people, but I certainly don’t dislike it. SRB serves some amazing sliders, and next time I’m in Minot, I fully intend on stopping by.

NEW CLIENT
While I don’t share who my clients are until I have permission to put their work out publicly, I can say I chatted with two delightful women who have connections to architecture firms, and i’ve been interested in working with an architecture firm for a few years now. They are passionate about what they do, and they have some good stories to tell. I will be signing with them in the next few weeks, and I am excited to get started working with them.

That’s all I have for February. As Red Green always says, “I’m pullin’ for ya. We’re all in this together.”

Cheers.

Emma