Nenad and I met while studying abroad in Spain! We spoke and hung out about five times before we actually took an interest in each other, outside of thinking the other was nice and cute. If I'm being honest, I barely remember most of them (I was a bit under the weather each time, wink wink) but I remember the real first time, for me anyways, and it was perfect. I had the worst week of my whole time abroad the week of Thanksgiving. Ironically enough, his friend was actually who invited me over that night, in hopes to make it better with some good company. Nenad denies ever telling me this, but he told me when I walked in the door that night, he thought to himself, "I'm not letting her get away this time..." Apparently I had myself a secret admirer since our last encounter. Well, he didn't need to worry about me getting away because I was stuck to him like glue the whole evening! It was from that night on that we were just "together". Nothing official, it was just known.

I left Spain on May 26, 2017 - our exact six month mark. The day was horrendous because I knew I was leaving the love of my life, but somehow also exciting because we knew that leaving Spain and going back to our "regular lives" was the first step in our relationship being more than just an amazing six months in la la land. "Moji mali majmune, zakači se i ja nika neću pustiti." Translation - "My little monkey, hold on to me and I'll never let you go."

Nenad's first time in the US, and our first time seeing each other since Spain, was when he came to visit for six weeks in December 2017. I can't explain the joy I still feel in my heart when I think back to seeing him for the first time as he got off that plane and walked through the airport. My heart was pounding because I was scared he'd be stopped for some reason, but when he wasn't, and he walked through those doors.... man, we were so.... awkward lol. We're married now so you know it got better, but it's difficult to carry on a long distance relationship for seven months and then just swap it back to in-person! We settled in pretty quick, once we realized it was real and the other person was truly standing in front of us, and we traveled to Napa, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Disneyland, Tahoe... it was truly a special time in our relationship.

My junior year of college at Sac State ended and I was on a plane to Serbia to be reunited once again with Nenad after the longest five months of my life! But this time, it was my trip for "firsts". I was going to experience his city, his family, his lifestyle, and his overall world. Serbia stole my heart on that first visit. Nenad already had it, but if he didn't, he would have. Even though I was insanely ill for 13 days of my 21 I spent there (trip to the hospital included), I saw enough to know why it was so special. Why his family was so special. Serbia is the warmest culture out of any country I've ever visited to this day, and I've visited 11 of them.

My last goodbye, for the next two years, wasn't with Nenad - it was with my family. After graduating from Sac State early in December 2018, I packed my bags yet again and was embarking on my next adventure, but not alone this time, with the love of my life. Nenad was waiting for me in Serbia, in our new apartment, and with arms wide open. It's hard to sum up two years of your life in a paragraph or two but I'll give it a go. Adjusting to life in Serbia was hard. No friends of my own? Hard. His parents don't speak English? Hard. Working as the only American in a new job? Hard. I don't speak the language? Hard. Homesick? Hard. It didn't change the fact that I knew living in Serbia was the right decision, but it didn't make any of these difficulties easier to overcome. I finally settled in about May-June of 2020 and I never looked back. The next year and a half was magical. We grew in love, we got to see both my parents make a trip overseas, we visited Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Romania, and did I mention we got married? Oh yeah, so that happened.

We were going to be first-time Aunt and Uncle... and we wouldn't miss it for the world. We packed our bags to move to California, but for the first time in our relationship, we were moving together. The goodbyes in Serbia were more difficult than I could possibly say. Mainly because we were surrounded by cases of COVID popping up and we couldn't risk getting it prior to our departure... so the goodbyes were, nonexistent. We've been here almost six months now - it feels almost surreal saying that. I work two jobs, one for the CA Department of Public Health and a second as a Public Relations Consultant. Nenad's paperwork is processing with Immigration and we're hopeful that will soon be resolved. We moved into our own place in March and we're finally getting back into a groove of our own! We're greatly looking forward to celebrating our marriage with you all. Our love had a lot of obstacles, but never barriers, and the idea of never having to say goodbye to each other again still sometimes feels surreal, even all these years later. We cannot wait to see everyone August 28, 2021. - Mr. & Mrs. Jelačić