Good Job!
The barbarians in your game were definitely bad. First the bears killing off your scouts and then the archers pillaging your territory. This definitely hampered your growth for a while. I have learned that having a sentinel net around your territory can be extremely helpful for getting rid of barbs.
I know that many people say that Creative is a weak trait and don't understand this. I think it is one of the strongest traits. When you don't have to waste turns building obelisks, early libraries, or stonehenge, then you can focus on expansion which is key.
I used to be in the exact predicament you were in, I never used to build enough military units. In Civ3, I would only build buildings, only ever having time to build up my army at the end game when all my cities had every building! Of course when I built the buildings so early, I had no use for them. I should have been building units and warring. I find that if you pick a very aggressive leader, and force yourself to build units for a couple of games (or play a custom world with all crazy leaders and agressive AI so you have to build units) then you can sometimes overcome not wanting to build a strong army.
Another solution is to play an SG - Then you know you have to build more units instead of buildings because if you don't the other players will
you out.
Anyways, you did great for this being your first monarch game. And a very nice report too