Hellobee Boards

3 worst:
1)Not caring about my diet AT ALL while in school
2)Quitting running when I'd finally gotten okay at it
3)Staying in a job I hate because I don't know what else to do

3 best:
1)Turning down UChicago law school in favor of a lower-ranked local school
2)Breaking up with my ex when he decided to reenlist in the air force
3)Getting over my fear/self judgment and joining match.com (where I met my husband)

3 worst:
-Didn't care about my education while at school. More concerned about partying.
-Buying my condo when I did at the peak and now valued way less and now we are stuck.
-Incurring debt when I could have been debt free about a decade ago.

3 best:
- Ditching the guy I was seeing to get with his friend (now my DH)
-Traveling abroad for school and splurged on our honeymoon.
- Waiting until we are older to have our soon to be LO.

Worst
-Taking out all my student loans.
-Majoring in philosophy. That was an expensive mistake.
-Giving up on taking care of my health for the last several years.

Best
-Graduating college
-Paying off debt
-Deciding to have a baby!

3 worst:
- Marrying my ex-husband.
- Not attending my university of choice.
- Taking student loans for my ex (even if I didn't need it) and literally giving him everything during the divorce.

3 best:
- Meeting my husband and starting a family with him.
- My dear daughter.
- Experiencing life and traveling outside of my hometown before settling down.

Worst: (1) Working at a job that made me miserable, for the wrong reasons (2) This one particular guy I dated - what was I thinking?! (3) Not taking my parents up on their offer to help me with a downpayment in my early 20s. Luckily that was just a financial mistake and it was just a lost opportunity, not a disaster.

Best: (1) Marrying my husband (2) Putting my parents' expectations aside to quit my job at an investment bank and start working for a small company (3) Making the most of my vacation time during my late 20s/early 30s and collecting a lot of passport stamps before getting pregnant!

I have a hard time saying things were the "worst", since they led me to where I am now, but...

Worst:
-not really thinking about life or job after college while I was there. I worked reasonably hard and got good grades but my majors didn't have a lot of career potential ad I never sought out internships or anything. Made finding a job really hard.... Which leads me to:
- staying at the awful job I did find for way too long. It made me miserable but I was too tired and burnt out to do anything about it.
- incurring credit card debt and carrying a balance for a while-- not a lot so certainly nothing major but it was unnecessary- I was just living above my means.

Best:
- going to school where I did-- great education, made great friends and a great network, and ultimately met Dh
- taking the leap and moving cities for my long distance boyfriend (now Dh). Scary moving away from family and friends but we were at a stand still and couldn't move forward until we could have a real relationship, in person. I didn't even have a job when I moved!
- waiting until we were both 100% on board to start trying for a baby. I was ready first but I'm glad we waited until we were both there.

3 Worst

Not double majoring in Finance (undergrad), or majoring in Finance (grad)
Getting involved with a jerk
Switching jobs when I had the chance (I need to build faith & confodence)

3 Best Decisions

Going away to college
Forgiving my dad
Waiting longer to really TTC

worst:
Not going to a college I really wanted to go to... because my parents wanted me to stay closer to home
Staying with an ex way too long
moving back to where I grew up

best:
Marrying DH
Joining the Peace Corps
Waiting 3 years of marriage before having DD

Worst:
-letting a guy dick me around for 2+ years. 2+ YEARS! ugh.
-not studying abroad
-racking up debt

Best:
-being patient - letting Hubs come around to 1-being in a serious relationship, then 2-getting married, then 3-having a baby. The boy needs to take time with stuff!
-going to Pitt for grad school, even though I was having major PTSD/anxiety and was absolutely terrified
-backpacking Europe after grad school

Worst:
-Being irresponsible financially when in college and getting into CC debt/student loan trouble.
-Not breaking up with my college boyfriend before studying abroad.

Best:
-The summer that I said yes to as many opportunities to possible. At the end of that summer, I met my husband.
-Going to grad school and getting my Master's.
-Taking a new job while 14 weeks pregnant.

Worst:
1) Taking out student loans for stupid things in college (and being irresponsible with $$ in general)
2) Not taking what would have been an amazing job because I didn't want to be seen as a 'job hopper' my quality of life would have been so much better and I think the first year of J's life would have been much less stressful.
3) choosing a major in college that I can't use without a masters (which I can't get...)

Best:
1) breaking up with a douche and dating DH even though people told me not to at the time.
2) sticking it out through the hard times with DH-we've come a long way and I'm so grateful for him
3) having jake. He's the best thing that's ever happened to me and I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. He IS my world.

Worst -
*Driving after too many drinks at 19...thankfully no one was hurt
*Not buying a house DH and I both knew was 'the one'
*Not traveling more for personal prior to having K

Best -
*Moving to Boston blindly and alone after college
*Following my boyfriend (DH) to Miami for law school
*Transferring colleges (from IU to MSU) my freshman year

These are all really interesting. I only have one true regret in my life....
1) the first cigarette I ever smoked
2) the cigarette I smoked after having quit for three years
3) the cigarette I smoked when I found out my dad was terminally ill

The best...
1) marrying my DH
2) having my LO
3) spending as much time as possible with my dad in the hospital over the three short weeks he was sick, despite me being tired and six months pregnant, because those were some really special times and we had no idea he'd be gone so soon.

@chibee: woohoo BC!! your second one is exactly how I started my relationship with Wagon Sr. as well... haha... yay AIM for starting our marriages. And getting our little dogs... we have wayyyy too much in common!!

Worst
1. Not buying when I had the opportunity to at 21
2. Not saving very well when I was in my late 20s
3. Not majoring in something tech based

Best Decision:
1. Waiting to have DD (with DH for 10 year and married for 4 before we had DD)
2. having a relationship with my sister. We fight all the time but after having DD and her having my nephew I found that we help each other more and our LOs are best friends.
3. Prioritizing myself and learning to demand what I deserve.

the best decision I ever made, hands down without question, was moving to DC for a job after college, even though all my friends and the guy I was dating at the time were staying in NYC (where my college was). That decision not only was amazing for my career (I worked on a project in that job that has led me to my dissertation research now), but I met dh 2 weeks after I moved!

other best decisions:
-attending my chosen undergraduate and graduate schools
-having faith in myself and my feelings for dh, and sticking with him through some really tough times--we were ldr for an academic year, he took a really long time to say "i love you" and some of my friends tried to convince me he wasn't serious since he hadn't said it, his father's first illness, etc.

worst decisions:
-caring too much about what other people thought of me /having too much pride to really put myself out there socially. I gained a lot of confidence in myself socially after meeting dh, but I think I spent a lot of time when I was younger being really lonely because I was too afraid to really initiate and maintain friendships.
-similarly, I stayed in an ldr for almost 2 years in college because it was easier to have an excuse not to try to date than to put myself out there, even though the relationship itself was really flimsy.
-not going home immediately when my parents told me our 14.5 year old dog was ill--they thought we had a little bit longer with her, but she passed away about 4 days before I was coming home to say good bye. I had to say good bye during a face time call instead

Worst:
1. Cheating on my ex boyfriend. Yes he was a d*ckhead but he didn't deserve it.
2. Starting smoking cigarettes. Luckily I've quit but I hate that I ever let myself do it.
3. Hooking up with a lot of guys and stringing them along...DH being one of them for a while.

Best:
1. Getting my act together and marrying DH.
2. Choosing to stick with my job and hopefully pursuing a career from it.
3. Deciding to have a baby. This has been the most beautiful experience of my life and has brought me much closer to DH.