In my village, the villagers are mainly engaged in agriculture, but also, many of them are employed in nearby places, such as Usce or Kraljevo. My family is still focused on agriculture and partly on the processing of decorative stone. Even as a child, my sister, brother and I were taught work habits. So, it was never strange for us to go with our parents to the field, meadow, garden or greenhouse after school or during the holidays. At that time, working on the farm was something I didn't really like, but now I remember that period very fondly. I think all that routine made real people out of us and taught us to appreciate work and the people around us. Every period in growing up had its charms. During that period, when I was at the beginning of elementary school and had just learned to read, my sister and I became addicted to watching Spanish series. Back then, hardly anyone had cable television, so watching the series depended on the antenna that was placed in the meadow above the house, and then we had to check a few minutes before the start of the series what the picture would be like. If it is not satisfactory, mom would normally go to the meadow to move the antenna to a place where the signal is better, so one of us would stand at the window of grandma and grandpa's room and wait for information about whether the picture is good from the other one who is in the living room and controls the TV (of course, there was no mobile phone yet). Our generations can understand these struggles.

After that, we already had the desire to help grandma and grandpa with the housework. My sister was the one who first turned on the washing machine and arranged the wardrobe, while I loved the kitchen. We always enjoyed standing next to mom and watching her make food, especially cakes. Since Mom and Dad were work in their jobs, Grandpa and Grandma took care of us when we got home from school. Grandpa was the one in charge of waking us up in the morning for school, dad lit the fire before going to work to keep us warm, mom always made sure our school wardrobe was spread out and ironed on the couch in the living room, and grandma always makes sure we have fresh cooked food after school. My favorite foods were beans, pancakes, homemade bread and French toast with jam. Part of my childhood was also devoted to coaching. It is a period that was also important for my growing up and maturing. I started training volleyball in the 4th grade of elementary school. I would like to mention Dragisa's coach - Gisa Zivkovic - who is the founder of the Volleyball Club in Usce. At that time, almost all the girls wanted to practice volleyball, including my sister, the neighbors and me. We even traveled together for a while, but they soon gave up training, but not me. For me, volleyball had a special place in my daily schedule. The sister was also a member of KUD "Studenica", the brother coached football. I would say that that period was one of the most carefree periods in my life. My week was filled with activities every day. Trainings were on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in the afternoon. So, my day would start with going to school, returning by bus at 12 noon, having lunch and packing things for training, returning back to Usce by bus at 1:30 pm and going to Grandma (Mom's mom) until it was time for training (at that time we had a limited number of transportations on this relation). Training is usually around 5-6pm depending on the season, and at the end I would either return to Bare after training by bus or go to Grandma and uncle who live in Usce. Grandma was working as a chef at that time, so I enjoyed every food that was freshly prepared on the table for me. She would always make sure she came to tuck me in before bed (still to this day). My uncle would drop me off at school on his way to work in the morning. I always felt like I had two houses, and I still do today. Even when celebrating, for me organization is equally important in both houses. This period was also marked by the first jerseys, matches, going to mountain Goc for preparations over the summer and the struggle to combine all that with success at school. I have to admit that at that time I considered volleyball a priority, so there were ups and downs in school, even studying in the morning before writing assignments. But after all, I can say that I am satisfied with my consistently very good success.

All this period was followed with common hobbies with my brother and sister. Since my sister is 2 years older and my brother is 5 years younger, I always liked to join them in joint activities that I was interested in.
At the end of elementary school, when we already have our first crushes and yearn for famous people, my sister and I started buying 2 well-known magazines "OK" and "Bravo" out of our pocket money. Both magazines had similar content. They ranged from introductions about famous people, through famous posters and real stories of teenagers. And of course, and inevitably, the horoscope. Also, we loved the end of the magazine with the lyrics of songs by foreign artists, because we followed channels like MTV and then we wanted to know the full lyrics of our favorite songs properly.
You can assume that at least 1 or 2 entire walls were plastered with posters. You know the feeling when you read your horoscope anticipating what can happen in the next 15 days and also matching your horoscope with a crush.
I don't have to write about lexicons, I think it's a well-known topic!
Then, when the period came for my sister to start high school, my time was more focused on the hobbies I shared with my brother. It was a very interesting period because I really enjoyed men's games and hobbies, which my parents still recount to this day.
First, we had a habit of taking out the toys (mainly toy cars) after returning from school, making a few laps around the dining table on the carpet that was perfectly decorated for driving and parking, and finally parking them before lunch. Also, I enjoyed watching several cartoons, our favorites were "Flipper and Lopaka", "Horsland" and "Bibi". Our favorite series later was "Hawaii", which even then made me want to visit Honolulu, and I hope that will come true soon.
Then, my brother had periods when he would watch National Geography, Discovery, Eurosport the most, and he would literally follow all sports, even those that are not common for our country. Later, he expressed his desire to coach football, so I often accompanied him to training sessions and matches. Now he's a big guy and he's into singing.
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As for work, I would say that it was far from expected. Mostly after schooling and really excellent practice and success during schooling, we all hope and can't wait to start a career as healthcare workers, in my case as a Physiotherapist.
Unfortunately, in reality that path is a little different and thorny.

In my case, after studying, 6 months after high school and 6 months of internship after university, everything remained on promises and waiting for a vacancy.
As someone who wanted to start a working career and become independent, I decided to put together my resume and simply find a job and start creating, even if it was in another field. So, my business career has been really varied. What I would conclude after all is that every job brings new knowledge and experience. Both work and life.
My first job was at a kiosk. It was a job I accidentally applied for, because it wasn't my goal to sit and wait for a call in my profession, because it really looked like it wasn't going to happen. The work at the kiosk was reflected in classic sales, my first learning how to work with money and be responsible for the facility, accounts and leave behind everything perfect for my colleagues. After that, I had the opportunity to work as a massage therapist at the "Solaris" hotel in Vrnjacka Banja. I am very grateful for this opportunity, because I perfected the massage technique that we learned elsewhere in school. In addition, we had a perfect team that provided me with trainings such as face and body treatments, as well as learning a lot about the spa center and how to properly use which part of the spa center.
This was also a real opportunity for me to become independent. During this time, I lived completely alone in an unknown city for the first time and took care of my finances, diet and how I spent my time outside of work. Vrnjacka Banja is the place where the Carnival is held in the summer, so every day after work I spent time in the city center where various concerts would be held.
Given that work in tourist towns is understood as a seasonal job, it was soon time to find an alternative for the winter season.
I am very grateful that I found the hotel "Angela" on Kopaonik, where I worked for 2 consecutive years in the winter season as a massage therapist. Here I got the opportunity to continue my career and even in the first year to propose my offer and price list of massages, as well as to find manufacturers to ensure the supply of products such as massage oils, hot chocolate for massage, Himalayan stones, etc. Also, people from the surrounding towns were employed in this hotel, so I fit in perfectly and gained new valuable friendships.
After the first winter season on Kopaonik, quite suddenly, by recommendation, I find out that I can get an opportunity to work at the hotel "La Roche" in Tivat, Montenegro. At first thought, I was a little worried about going to another country alone and what would be waiting for me there, but in the end, I still decided to accept. Which was absolutely the right decision!
After hard work and winter, going to the seaside was something that is said to be "given by God". My parents, like all parents, were worried about my departure, especially because we didn't know anyone from Tivat, so my dad and brother decided to drop me off, to make sure everything was in the best order.
After arriving in Tivat and visiting the "La Roche" hotel for the first time, the impressions were more than positive. I was welcomed by a supervisor who introduced me to the staff, showed me the workplace and the accommodation provided for the staff. The hotel is located right on the promenade next to the coast, it has about 20 spa centers on the roof. Since the accommodation was relatively close, I spent almost every morning on the nearby beach reading my favorite books and soaking up the first rays of the sun while no one was on the beach yet. Then I would take a bath, go to work, and spend the day walking with my colleagues by the shore or drinking coffee with other staff on the terrace of the accommodation, exchanging impressions after the working day and getting to know each other. This was truly a period that remained in the best memory as a holiday combined with work - Perfectly blended!
The period of Covid - The worst period for the whole world. On the one hand, the season at Kopaonik ended much earlier because all the guests canceled their reservations and it seemed disastrous at the beginning, because all the people around the world were afraid for their health.
For me, that period was more fulfilling because I could finally be at home. I have definitely been able to devote myself to my hobbies such as floristry and cooking.
A light starts of the day with a coffee in the yard, while it's spring when you can fill your car with flowers from the drink and spend the whole day caring for them. Bringing the nephews, playing with them and your dog, while not having to go to work is something priceless. It was definitely something needed!

I would like to look back on my 3rd year of college, because that's when I met my current husband, Miloš. Milos is originally from Djakovo (my mother's birthplace), so our families have known each other forever, but our story begins in 2012 when we met at the wedding of my godmother and Milos's sister.
After several months of correspondence, we officially met in Kraljevo on the quay.
Soon Milos got a visa for Canada and after that we kept in touch, not knowing that our relationship would turn into a life together. For us, distance meant familiarity, support and understanding. The best feeling is that after a hard day, when you come home from work, you have someone you can call and share the best and saddest impressions that happened during the day. And even fall asleep during the conversation :D (Me). We remember a lot of good memories and exchanged pictures from those days of correspondence.
Here now, after 8 years, we are building life and memories together, in Canada.
So, let's get back to these trips together.