Hi Ryan,
I have been using A:M for a while and for me I invested alot of time, sleepless nights just trying to get the hang of things...A:m is simple and powerful and it will amaze you the more you use it, I suggest doing alot of the tutorials as much as you can so you can see quickly how the features work and the overall work flow.. There is alot of inspiration here just feed of it and have fun learning.....
I will leave ur other questions for the pros to answer...
Welcome to A:M!