Week 1: Already looking like a different building!

After closing last Friday, it felt like a daunting task to get started on the work on the building. It was big space, filled with junk, and all ours.

Our first picture as owners!

Thankfully, Will and I are blessed with different skill sets and thought processes, so we tend to get overwhelmed or have an extreme sense of calm at different points. This allows us to feed off of each other as needed and talk each other off the ledge.

And, of course, God always comes through with his promises. The City of Knoxville has had a streetscape in mind for Magnolia Avenue for years, slated to start this summer and at the corner of our block. We were worried this would get pushed back, but the first time we drove up to the building as owners, the workers were on the road, beginning this new project.

The start of the work

While this is not a big deal to us in terms of beautification of the area, it will provide some much-needed street parking for the building. It came as a big sign of relief and faithful promises to see the men out there when we pulled up.

"Dreams don't work unless you do"

After the initial shock wore off of a major RAV dream coming true, we sat down to make a game plan for work. Saturday, we moved everything left in the building into piles for trash and for keeping, which made the whole building feel much larger and workable.

Throughout the week, we were able to rip up the upstairs carpet, removed everything left in the walls, and take out all outlet plates to clean and ready for painting. Also all the trash went into the back to be put in a dumpster. We are so grateful to the friends who came out this first week and helped us chip away at the initial mountain. It honestly feels like a whole new place just with these changes!

We can't wait to have more people come out and help us as we get a better handle of the larger projects, so stay tuned if you are interested!