A few weeks ago, Sean headed down to Las Vegas for a job interview. And thankfully, Sean “wowed” the interviewers, and in October, he will be one of the newest members of the sales crew at Las Vegas Gaming Incorporated (www.lvgi.com). Which means The Shepard Crew will be moving from beautiful Portland, Oregon down to a significantly drier Las Vegas, Nevada.
We have told some of our friends and family about this recent event… and have subsequently been asked a lot of questions. We figured we’d answer those questions here:
1. How long have you known about this?
Sean was approached about the open position in mid August, but didn’t interview for it until early September. We made the final decision some time around September 12th.
2. But what about your life here in Portland?
Although the time line leading up to this opportunity has been extremely short, the decision to make this move was not taken lightly. Sean has lived in Portland since he was nine years old and Lisa has called Oregon her home for over nine years. We met here, dated here, got married here, and our beautiful daughter was born here. We have extremely amazing friends, a great church, good jobs, and a wonderful life here. (Insert tears here)
3. Did Sean interview at other companies? Was he looking for a different job?
No, Sean was not actively looking for another job. He loves Real Estate and has taken so much pride in building his business over the last 7 or 8 years.
4. Then why are you moving? Why is he taking another job?
There are many benefits about our decision to move to Las Vegas. Although we weren’t proactively looking for another job for Sean, when this opportunity came up, we knew we had to consider it. Although there are some sacrifices that come with Sean rejoining the corporate world, there are a lot of positives with it, and he is excited to help an up-and-coming company develop their business and increase their sales. One notable benefit is that Lisa will be able to stay home with Samantha. As much as Lisa has enjoyed being a working woman and thriving in the professional world, we are very excited about this opportunity for her to be a full-time mom to Samantha.
Another significant perk to our move is that we will be close to Sean’s parents. Anyone who has a child will probably recognize what a value that is.
We also hope that living in a drier climate will allow us to squeeze in a bit more golfing and boating! And we are also aware that Las Vegas happens to be a pretty popular place to visit… so we hope that means we will get many visits from our family and friends across the country. Who doesn't want a place to stay in Las Vegas?! :-)
5. If Sean’s not available, who is going to help me when it comes time to buy/sell my house?
Sean will be working through some of his real estate deals straight up to the time we leave… and possibly even afterwards. Even after we move down there, if you are in the market to sell or buy a house, Sean knows a couple very qualified real estate brokers that he would refer you to. Sean always took great pride in making sure you got the best service he could possibly provide… and he would only refer you to someone who will do the same!
6. Isn’t Las Vegas just full of strippers and gamblers?
All our research we’ve done indicates that LIVING in Las Vegas is VERY different than VISITING Las Vegas… and we are banking on that. There are parks, hiking trails, farmers markets and all kinds of other activities for a family. We plan on spending much of our time in the suburbs and relatively little on The Strip.
7. Did you know that the summers are really hot in Las Vegas?
Hmmm… we weren’t aware of that. Gosh… I hope it doesn’t get too hot! JUST KIDDING!! We are very well aware that it gets scorching in the summer and we’ll just get used to it the same way we got used to the rain in Oregon. We’ll embrace the good parts about the weather (i.e. October – May), deal with the bad, and try to keep our complaints to a minimum. Of course… the dogs may not have the same attitude as us… but we hope they like getting shaved!! :)
8. When are you moving down? Where will you live?
Our plan is to live with Dad & Mom Shepard until our house up here in Oregon sells (or until we drive them nuts... whichever comes first! :-) ). This will give us plenty of time to learn more about the area and find the right place to get a house. We will move down in late October, although the exact date will be decided on shortly. Wow... there is a lot to get done in the next few weeks!!
9. Are you excited?
You bet! Are we nervous and scared? Of course! Is this one of the biggest decisions we've made in our lives? Undoubtedly! But we've prayed about it, pondered it, and talked it over a lot and we believe this is the right move for our family at this time. What an adventure!
We'll keep you posted on this crazy development in our lives, but until then... Viva Las Vegas!!!
Lots of Hugs,
Sean, Lisa, Samantha, Charlie & Sadie Shepard
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