What a long, strange trip it's been

I have just finished my last college assignment ever. I have no more work to do and it is the strangest feeling ever. When I finished my last high school assignment I was ecstatic. Now... I feel sad and uncertain.

What am I supposed to do with myself?!?

Oh yeah... pack up my room and prepare for cape week and graduation.

I never thought I'd say it, but I want more work to do. I don't want this to end!

Final final... check!

Wooohooo I am DONE with exams! I still have one more paper to write but that shouldn't take too long and then I am officially finished with Stonehill work (which still does not seem real and has not hit me yet). I had my French final last Saturday and my Cultural Geography final this afternoon and my Mediated Communications paper is due tomorrow. Technically I also have a Juvenile Delinquency one-page response due Thursday but that shouldn't take too long to do, but after that I am completely done! Didn't the semester just start?

The past few weeks have been a lot of fun. Since we're all seniors our motivation level to do work has been, shall I say, slightly lower than past years, so we've spent a lot of time just hanging out and preparing for Cape Week! In case you aren't familiar with that Stonehill tradition, Cape Week is the week between finals and graduation. All the seniors rent houses down on Cape Cod and spend our last full week together. My friends and I are renting a house in Hyannisport and I cannot wait! Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we'll have a sunny and warm Cape Week, although with this crowd it could monsoon the whole time and we'd still have fun.

The week is capped off with a formal on Thursday night then it's back up to Easton on Friday for graduation weekend. My parents and aunt and uncle are flying in (from Minnesota and Virginia) so it should be a great weekend with my family here. I can't believe it's less than 2 weeks away now... I feel like the year just started. I had to say good bye to one of my suitemates today and I surprised even myself by crying! These next two weeks and graduation weekend especially are going to be a sobfest, I can already tell.

I'll leave you with one really cool picture I took last weekend from the window of my friend's room of everyone outside on Saturday night in the senior courts... this is a great reminder for me and my friends of the fabulous 4 years we've all had here:

That time my mom almost burned our house down on Easter...

No really... almost happened.

But before that, allow me to tell you all about my Easter break. It was GREAT! I got to see my littles, make kielbasa with my dad and bought a dress for senior formal. Now I present the necessary documentation of said activities:

Making homemade polish kielbasa in my kitchen... with the Lipinski family meat grinder

The first year that I was allowed (or brave enough) to stuff the kielbasa myself...

Sweet little Sophia who got so big!

Don't you miss being 5 and a half years old?

The two littlest littles by the Easter Bunny!

Flying into Boston for the last time...

Good ol' Beantown...

So every year on Easter Sunday my mom hides eggs for me to find (yes, I'm 22 and no, I don't care) but since we were running late for our Easter dinner at a friend's house, I didn't have time to search for them before we left. So we spend a nice 5 hours at our friends', then return home and the first words out of my mouth are "What smells like burnt sugar?" So we all kind of walk around the house sniffing and I hear my dad go "WHOA!!"

Apparently my mother the Easter Bunny hid one of my eggs on top of a LAMP and forgot about it, so it was literally smoking by the time we got home. The plastic egg had melted onto the antique lamp and the candy inside was ruined. After the initial freak out, we all found it pretty funny.

The first week back was great, it was good to see all my friends again. Spring Weekend was last weekend which was also a blast and then last night was the BEST! One of my friends got tickets to the Twins/Red Sox game so he and I went into Boston first and had dinner in the North End and then met our other two friends at the game. The best part is Mandi and I were gonna get ourselves tickets to that series for our birthdays but they were too expensive so we got to go after all!

Even though the Twins lost it was still a lot of fun to go to Fenway again!

Well now it's only one more class and then the weekend... my last weekend before finals as a senior.

How has it come to this? :(

Last Time Home...

Throughout my four years at Stonehill I have spent many, many hours traveling to and from Logan Airport. Flying to and from school has become part of my collegiate routine, and tomorrow morning I'll be making my last flight home from Boston... ever. Since I'm driving my car home after graduation in May, tomorrow's 10:45 am departure will mark the end of my mile-high commute to and from school.

Since Northwest Airlines has a hub in my home city of Minneapolis I have been lucky to have mostly direct flights home over the years. But I've had plenty of stories along the way... like when I flew home at the end of freshman year on United Airlines with a connection in Chicago. I arrived at Logan in the pouring rain to find out my flight to Chicago was delayed and would I like to get on the stand-by list for an earlier one? After consulting with Papa Lipinski I decided to do so, but sat at my gate crying as I was worried I'd miss my flight out of Chicago and be stuck alone in Illinois for the night (mind you I had also taken 2 finals that day, packed up my room and bid my friends good-bye for a whole 3 months so I was a little emotional).

Thankfully I made it to Chicago (though if I hadn't gotten on the earlier flight I would have actually missed my connection) and sprinted through O'Hare towards what I thought was my gate. When I arrived panting at my gate I checked the board behind the check-in desk and saw that it indeed listed my flight to Minneapolis. Whilst on the phone with my dad, I noted how many Asian people were on the flight but didn't think anything of it until I was walking down the gateway to the plane and I hear a frantic "Miss Lipinski! Miss Lipinski! You're on the wrong flight!"

Ummm what?

I hung up the phone and turned around to see a flight attendant chasing me down the walkway who promptly informed me that I was on the wrong flight. When I told her what flight I was on she said the gate had moved, to which I replied "But the sign above the desk says this is the right gate"

"Oh yeah that's wrong," she replied. (Gee, thanks lady).

"So where's this plane going?" I asked. The response?

"China."

UMMM WHAT I ALMOST BOARDED A FLIGHT TO CHINA?!?!!? I quickly found the correct gate and made it home to MN only a couple hours delayed... and then my luggage wasn't there. Apparently it never made it out of Chicago (but at least it didn't go to China) yet it got sent to my house the next day.

I've had many more almost mishaps, like sophomore year when the car driving me to the airport called to say it was running an hour late cause it was stuck in traffic and they'd reimburse me if I missed my flight... (again, gee, thanks) or when I was going home for Thanksgiving this year and walked out to my car at 4:45 am to find it completely frosted over and I had to scrape the ice off of it, which meant I missed the bus I was aiming for and got to the airport much later than intended. Knock on wood though, I have never in my life missed a flight and I've been flying since I was 3 months old.

Because of the recent Northwest & Delta Airlines merger, I'll be flying out of Terminal A tomorrow instead of my trusty Terminal E, which actually bums me out a little (yes, I'm a loser like that). I've gotten to know Terminal E very well over the years and the Starbucks located in it has made for very pleasant early mornings. Though I know there's one in Terminal A too as that's where we fly out of for spring break.

I love to fly, if you can't tell. I'm able to get so much work done on flights or just chill and watch a movie on my laptop if I want. Also it typically leads me to places I really want to go; in this case, home to relax for a few days :)

I wish you all a very happy Easter, and remember, next time you fly... make sure you're at the right gate or else you may end up in Asia ; )

Less Than 50 Days Now...

I can't believe I'm graduating in some 40-odd days... it does not seem real.

Sorry it took me all week to get the pictures up from 50 Days. It was a total blast getting all dressed up and The Top of the Hub was awesome. The view was so cool! Here are some pictures:

Mandi and I all snazzy ; )

50 Days meant even the boys had to dress up!

So Mandi, Caite, Kate and I were all set to take a lovely picture of the girls... and then Chris and Paul realized it and saw a prime opportunity to have some fun!

Mandi, Janelle, Caite and I : )

So when JD and I took this photo we had no idea that the red arrow was there and now find it hilarious of how perfect this photo was placed....

JILLYYYYYYYYY!!!

Chris and I at the top of the hub!

Beautiful Boston!

This weekend should be fun. There's a men's rugby game tonight and then afterwards we're celebrating Dave's 22nd birthday. How can next weekend be Easter break already?!

WHERE IS THE TIME GOING???

50 Days?!?

Hey everyone!

I can't believe it's already been almost two weeks since we got back from Mexico. Thankfully, the New England weather is starting to cooperate and I'm not freezing cold like I was right when we got back. The first weekend back at school was great-- I got to see all the friends who didn't come with us over break and we got to celebrate St. Patty's Day! Also, Justin came to Stonehill this weekend so it was great to see him. Justin came on spring break with us but doesn't go to Stonehill and it was definitely weird not seeing him every day like we had over break!

Tomorrow night is 50 Days and I can't believe it's already here. If you don't know, the senior class has 3 big events in the spring: 100 Days, 50 Days and 25 Days til Graduation. Mandi and I missed 100 Days because we went to the John Legend concert that night (oh my God it was AMAZING) so we're really looking forward to 50 Days which is at the Top of the Hub in Boston. It's always fun to get dressed up :)

Just a quick post this week, but be on the lookout for pictures from 50 Days next week!

Epic Spring Break Win.

I do not even know where to begin! Last week's spring break in Cozumel was without a doubt one of the best weeks of my life. I mean come on, 7 college seniors, 1 all-inclusive resort and 7 days of sunshine and laying on the beach? WIN!

Our trip started off with all of us meeting at Chris' grandparent's house in Revere on Saturday for a huge home-cooked Italian dinner. We all left our cars there for the week then headed to his actual house for the night as we had to leave for the airport around 2 am. We decided it was just easier to stay awake, rather than get a few hours of sleep and be all groggy at the airport. So, that's what we did! We got to Logan Airport shortly after 2 for our 5:40 am departure to Atlanta (I, per usual, only slept about 15 minutes on that flight, I can rarely sleep on planes) and had a 3 hour layover there in which we all took turns watching our stuff so we could nap. From Atlanta we were headed to Cozumel! Seeing the gorgeous aqua colored water as we flew over the mainland to our little island was breathtaking and we all started to get SO EXCITED! After landing we grabbed a cab and were headed to our resort. After checking into our rooms, we promptly changed into bathing suits and headed down the beach to the swing bar (this bar on the beach had actual swings at it, and yes, I have pictures!) to celebrate my roommate Mandi's 22nd birthday!

Missing this walk sooooo much right now...

A special drink for the birthday girl!!

All 7 of us on the first day there! Chris, Andy, Jenny, Mandi, Jill, me and Justin

After a few frozen drinks, we headed back for the evening to nap and all ended up falling asleep early as the previous sleepless night finally caught up with us. We intended to celebrate Mandi's birthday the next day buuuuut.... she woke up the next morning with strep throat of all things!

So unfortunately Mand was out of commission for the next couple of days but was able to see a doctor and get some antibiotics. Luckily, she felt pretty good on Wednesday and was able to join us on what was probably the funniest/best adventure of my life. We wanted to go to the other side of the island to surf/boogie board and the good waves weren't on the side that our resort was on. So we rented two Jeeps through our resort, but they were stick-shifts. Only Mandi and Chris knew how to drive a stick, so it ended up being Mandi, Jill, Jenny and I in one car and Chris, Justin and Andy in the other... Chris and Justin had been to our resort before and claimed they knew where they were going and knew how to get to the beach... Yeah... they definitely didn't! We drove around for so long (with Mandi trying to control the ridiculously crappy stick shift) because, in typical boy fashion, they wouldn't ask for directions. Finally they did and we got where we needed to go (since Justin speaks fluent Spanish he finally asked some people and after a few wrong directions we eventually got where we needed to be).

We thought the waves were so pretty... til we tried to surf in them!

I love this picture-- this is Mandi driving us down the coast to where the boogie boarding was. I stuck my camera up in the air since our Jeep was one of those open air ones and caught this cool angle.

Please note Jenny about to fly through the air on the upper left and Justin panting for breath on the bottom right... we all got WORKED.

But it was hilarious, 4 girls in bathing suits in this bright red Jeep trying to work the stick, no clue what the speed limit was driving down the main road in Cozumel getting cat called from all the Mexican men. That's a memory I won't forget anytime soon! The waves were AWESOME on the other side and after attempting to surf in 6 ft waves and subsequently failing, we got our boogie boards and rode the waves til dusk. There was this one moment when we were all kind of finishing up boogie boarding and were standing alone on the gorgeous beach watching the waves crash in, the sky was turning colors in preparation for the sunset and it was just us and the water-- it was the coolest feeling for me, I can't really describe it but it was just one of those feeling like "I can't believe we're doing this! This is my life right now, and I love it" There I was in a foreign country with 6 of my favorite people and we had rented cars to go boogie boarding; it felt incredibly grown up for some reason. One of those "Remember when we...?" moments. We drove back to the resort just as the sun was going down and it was beautiful.

Other highlights of the week include karaoke night, Italian dinner night, playing in the inflatable water trampolines and slides in the ocean, swimming til dark, adventuring on the beach at night and just hanging out by the pool with some of my favorite people. And of course... my birthday!

Dressed up for karaoke!

J-Bean rocking out ; )

Then Jilly caught me up there!

I spent the day lounging at the pool and the swing bar then watched the last sunset of the week from a lounge chair on the beach (hello, perfection) and I daresay the sunset that day was the best one yet! Then we all got ready and went into downtown Cozumel for dinner at Carlos & Charlie's and drinks and dancing at Senor Frogs! The night was SO MUCH FUN and the waiters (and my friends, for that matter) made my birthday VERY memorable. Let's just say the wait staff at Senor Frogs knows how to treat a birthday girl ;)

Chris, Mandi, me and Justin at the swing bar for my birthday!

The most gorgeous sunset ever-- note the boat sailing past. Take me back!

A VERY excited birthday girl! That was the menu at Carlos & Charlie's, so cool

All of us with the famous "Yard" drinks at Senor Frogs

A bit scared as to what the waiters have in store for me! Luckily they were very nice : )

We were all so sad to fly home the next day but got back to Boston without a hitch. Both flights were a bit delayed and despite the massive overload of people trying to get through customs in Atlanta, everything went according to plan. Because our plane didn't land til after midnight, we didn't get back to Stonehill til about 2 am, which was the only downside.

Andy got a bit tired at the end of a looooong day!

All in all, it was an incredible vacation and one I'll always remember. Thanks to the best friends in the world for coming and making my birthday so special :) I love you all!

Let's go back?!