New me - how is COVID changed my life

Hi,

New me, what does that mean?

(at home, Zagreb, Croatia)

Everyone can read my post "Who am I" from the beginning of my blog.
That was the period of my life with the freedom to explore things and places, and have all kinds of adventures. I need to admit, it was amazing, but at some point, something started to miss and I didn't know what!
Since it's been a while since my last blog, "How to Survive Isolation with a Furry Best Friend," let's start with the story of how it all began.
When COVID-19 knocked on the door of every country in the world, my adventurous spirit and travels had to slow down a lot. To occupy my time, I try to focus and put in order another part of my life. I decided to make some changes that were never on top of my list. Among them was a new car. My brother has a lot of credit for that because he said: "Come on girl, look at yourself... you are a beautiful, successful, and free woman, what are you driving...?! you have to buy yourself a better car that reflects you". And that's what I decided. From the relatively new family car, Ford Focus C max, I started looking for a more massive car, an SUV type of car. At that time, due to COVID-19, we had been working from home for some time and I remember my colleague from work who is good with cars and their import, so I decided to call him for help.
From that first call, he was like a true gentleman who explained every detail and threw himself into the job of looking for a car like it was his full-time job. It was a whole new world for me. We start texting each other about cars we've found, go on road trips together to see some interesting cars, and drop by each other's houses to explore new deals. We start to spend a lot of time together, talking about different things. In other words, we start to know each other much better than working colleagues. By the end of the exciting car shopping experience, we become more than friends. From that day there was no day or night that we spent separately. Covid "isolation" was starting to be so fun with him... We laughed, drank, danced, and played a lot of games (some of them were tricky ones, like truth or dare). I had the feeling that I had known this guy for almost my whole life and just hearing his voice I knew that I was safe and in the "right place". Soon we started to plan our trips to countries that are "covid-free" and that are not connected to finding me a car 😎...

Our first trip was to Sarajevo, capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It needed to be our first romantic getaway. Best of all, it was snowing heavily, I love snow, and all the bars and places are open regardless of Covid 19. When we arrived, we visited some places such as:

Baščardžija - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba%C5%A1%C4%8Dar%C5%A1ija
Ferhdija street - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferhadija_street
Sarajevo tunnel also known as the Tunnel of Hope has a significant history - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarajevo_Tunnel

and some local bars and restaurants (in our/their language "čevabđinica" or "piterija") with local food and drink.

(Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

After a few amazing days in Sarajevo, he surprised me with a reservation in a beautiful Pino hotel in Trebević, https://www.pino-hotel.com/. There were supposed to be our most romantic moments, but a force of nature prevented some of them 😅. Now that I think about it, it led to a better path 😎. As I said, the Pino hotel is an isolated hotel on the hill Trebević surrounded by nothing except beautiful nature and in our case big snow. Except for cozy rooms, Pino hotel has a beautiful small and intimate spa that we couldn't use (higher force of nature 😂). As we only had one night there, the first part of the night we spent outside on the snow chasing each other and playing in the snow like kids. The second part of the night we spent in our room with a bottle of wine and had a good talk about where we see each other in the future... For me, it was the best way how to spend a romantic night. Good to know is that Pino hotel doesn't serve alcohol and you don't have any place near to buy it... so, be prepared 😎

(Trebević, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

After this trip, we know we are on the same page and we want the same things. The chemistry between us was just growing. Of course, there was a moment of tension, but, the way that we dealt with it was proof that there was something more. There was no end of laughter and teasing each other.

Soon we started planning our next trip, a little more extensive and with a wider "audience" (our friends). It was a real road trip: Zagreb (Croatia) - Svilengrad (Bulgarian) - Istanbul (Turkey) - Sarti (Greece) - Skopje (Macedonia) - Belgrade (Serbia) - Zagreb (Croatia). This trip deserves a post of its own, but I'll post a few pictures to give you an idea of the atmosphere 😎.

(Istanbul, Turkey)

(Grand Bazaar, Istanbul, Turkey)

(Sarti, Greece)

(Skopje, Macedonia)

(Belgrade, Serbia)

This trip solved our last doubts if there were any at all 😍.
After this trip, we had some smaller trips and our bond was just getting stronger. Here are a few pictures to get a feeling 😻

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(Makarska, Croatia)

(Master’s Road (Majstorska cesta), Velebit, Croatia)

(Giethoorn, Nederland)

Soon we started planning the renovation of the apartment where we intended to start our life together because we had nothing to wait for, everything was as clear as day.

Renovation is a completely different story...those who have had the opportunity to taste it know what I mean. Six months of agony with masters and other accompanying things that accompany the process itself. Not a fun experience at all, but we knew what was waiting for us in the end and that was the only thing that kept us going.
I must emphasize that even at this moment he showed himself even more than expected in the way he pulled everything to be done relatively on time and impeccably.
And this agony deserves its own post and I promise that I will give myself time and write everything about it... It was not at all funny and fun.
But in the end, we/he created a wonderful place for our new beginning 💑.

Shortly after moving in, the happiest moment in our lives happened. You can guess what happened next, right 😎? I found out that I am pregnant and that we are expecting a beautiful girl who will complete the whole story 😍.

The story was now complete, as I said, but do you notice that there is still something missing...?
Let me help you 😊: "What surname will we put on the door"? The million dollar question 🤣?
He didn't propose...and I thought he would never ask how he didn't propose during the renovation, and not even right after it...

But, this wouldn't be a real story if it didn't have a happy ending, so he proposed to me in the end in a completely original way. This is something I need to also share with you but in a new post 😉

(Budapest, Hungary)

In the end, COVID and "isolation" helped me to slow down and look at things from a different perspective. To focus on something I usually don't have time for. To notice things that, in my busy life, I have missed. To give a chance to new challenges, and not to strive for the same ones. I found what I missed and I can say I am enjoying my life more than ever without that little voice in my head that was saying that something is missing...

(at home, Zagreb, Croatia)

💜 One life 💜
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