Hi, my name is Jessica and I am 25 years old.  Originally, I am from Milwaukee and went to Indiana University where I met Ross.  After graduating, the two of us moved to Chicago where I was working at a school and Ross was playing poker.  He has played online poker professionally for 2 years.  One day while I was at school, I got an email from Ross saying “Ummm…I just got fired”.   I, of course, am thinking to myself “How can this be? Since when can you get fired from playing poker?”  When I got home later that night, Ross explained to me that the Department of Justice shut down the three major online poker sites in the Unites States.  And so it was, on April 15, 2011 Ross was out of a job.

Being that Ross is dedicated to, and passionate about his game, he made the huge decision to travel abroad in order to continue his work.  Ross was in Toronto for 5 months playing.  While I stayed home, worked at school and got my Masters Degree.  Finally, after a long 5 months, Ross returned to Chicago.  Then began the conversation of what to do next.  After MUCH deliberation and plenty of convincing of our families, the two of us decided to spend the next year traveling together; him playing poker, and me working for a friend’s social media managing company.  The decision of where to begin this little adventure was anything but difficult for either one of us.  If you know Ross and I, you know that Amsterdam is with out question our favorite place in the world.  Between us, we’ve been to Amsterdam four times.  I went once in college on a five week trip through Europe and fell in love with the city in a heartbeat.  Ross also traveled to Amsterdam in college and declared it his all-time favorite place to be.  Then when we began dating we took a trip to this metropolis together and it was wonderful, yet again.  Some people, given the option of temporarily living ANYWHERE in the world might have chosen a place they’ve never been; somewhere exotic with warm water and turquoise beaches….but not us!  Off to Amsterdam we go!  And to make things slightly more interesting, I made Ross promise to let me bring our cat, Jacks.  From the time we decided to go to Amsterdam, we had just under 2 months to get everything we needed in order.  I quit my job, we got Jacks to the Vet for all of her shots and pet passport, we found an apartment in Amsterdam online and we packed up our apartment.  We left Chicago on January 31st and arrived here in Amsterdam on the morning of February 1st (yesterday).  The flight was direct from O’Hare to Amsterdam and was relatively easy.  As a matter of fact, Jacks flew the best of the 3 of us, and without any drugs! Upon arrival, we jumped in a cab with our 5 suitcases, a cat and 2 carry on’s.  We settled into our lovely apartment on Brouwersgracht and have been enjoying ourselves since we got here.  Amsterdam is just as beautiful as always, but much colder than I remember it!  We have been eating lots, seeking warmth in the many coffee shops, cafe’s and pubs and making our home for the next 3 months our own.  Added bonus, Ross came in 1st in a tournament last night, so we are off to a great start!  To those of you that we know, we miss and love you and are thinking of you all of the time.  To those of you who just happen to be reading, please enjoy and keep following for more post’s to come!  Cheers!

- Jess & Ross (And Jacks!)