Is it possible that October is already drawing to a close? It seems like each month this year has gone by more quickly than the last. I struggle with the passage of time, often feeling as though I’ve allowed precious moments to slip through my fingers without giving them proper recognition or appreciation.

These “What I Learned” posts are one way I’ve found to help savor the moments and the information that crosses my path each month. Each time I encounter something new or interesting (whether it’s a piece of trivia or a life lesson), I make a note of it in Evernote so that I remember to include it in my monthly wrap-up. By the end of the month, I’m always amazed by the knowledge I’ve accumulated! Here is my random assortment of things I’ve learned in the month of October.

Fun Food Trivia:

• The first Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shop opened in 1978 in a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont. Founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield had learned all they needed to know about the business from a $5 correspondence course in ice cream from Penn State.
• Though sushi is generally considered a Japanese dish, it actually originated in Southeast Asia before spreading to south China and, by the 8th century, to Japan. The original type of sushi was first developed as a means of preserving fish in fermented rice. By the Edo Period (1603-1868), rice vinegar was used to sour the rice.

• Honey (the only insect-produced food consumed by humans) is not a standardized food. Its color can range from almost clear to dark brown, and its consistency ranges from watery to a crystallized goop. The differences are attributed to variances in the types of flowers foraged to obtain the nectar that bees transform into honey.

Intriguing Statistics:

• A recent study from Emory University found that marriage duration is inversely associated with spending on the engagement ring and wedding ceremony. More specifically, the study found that spending $2,000 or more on the engagement ring, or $20,000 or more on the wedding, is significantly associated with a higher rate of divorce. Other factors associated with a lower divorce rate included: relatively high household income, regularly attending religious services, having a child with one’s partner, relatively high wedding attendance, and going on a honeymoon.

• It is estimated there are between 143 million and 210 million orphans worldwide. Every day 5,760 more children become orphans. This statistic breaks my heart.
• 97% of Registered Dietitians are women. I’ve met my fair share of dietitians over the years, and not one of them has been male.
• After 40 years of research, scientists have concluded that happiness can be attributed to three major sources: genes, events and values. Based on their research, they arrived at the following breakdown: half of a person’s happiness is genetically determined, while up to an additional 40 percent comes from our voluntary actions and choices we make daily. Only 10 percent of a person’s happiness is determined by external circumstances. This is a fascinating revelation, and one I plan to explore further in a future blog post.

On the Baby Front:

• Apparently, cribs with a flat back (I guess it’s called a headboard?) are generally thought to be for boys, while cribs with arched headboards are generally for girls. Before stepping into a baby furniture store, Luke and I had selected (from online pictures) a “curvier” crib. When the store clerk pointed out this distinction, we couldn’t un-see the femininity of the arched back and ended up going with the flat-backed option for our little boy.

• When planning a nursery, it is important to order furniture as early as possible! We thought we were way ahead of the game when we went furniture shopping almost five months before our due date, but it’s going to take a while for our purchases to ship; turns out we were actually cutting it pretty close!
• Pregnant women who claim to have an intuition about the gender of their child make the right choice 70% of the time. For the record, I assumed I was having a boy from the moment I knew I was pregnant (even though almost every Old Wives’ Tale predicted I was having a girl)!

As usual, I’m linking up with Emily from Chatting at the Sky where a community of bloggers is sharing what we learned in the month of October.