How many of you have been wondering what the massive structure is that is being built in Xenia on RT 35 at the exit to RT 68?

The new Greene County Career Center , will be opening in time for the 2020-2021 school year! This exciting project will feature a flexible open floor plan and will be a 2 story 260,000 square foot facility. To watch the progress live, they have a live camera feed.

Interest in parents and students is increasing and so is enrollment. Students who choose career paths at the center can still go on to college to further their education. The training the career center provides helps them to be more prepared for their college journey or graduate high school with a career that they are already trained for!

To learn more about the Greene County Career Center programs, click HERE.

I have a problem - like many of you I am slightly obsessed with indoor plants and succulents for indoor decor. But I have managed to kill every single plant that I've had mostly because my house is dark. I have minimal windows that face the sun so I've tried to place plants in areas that I want them to be for decoration sake, not necessarily for their light needs.

Enter grow lights. When I think grow lights, I think of the large, bulky lights that are used for seed starting indoors or illegal activities. True story! But I was meandering through Ikea a few weeks ago and came across grow lights that can be used in spotlight fixtures and they are LEDs. Now I may be way late to this game but I didn't realize that you could get LED grow lights for normal light fixtures around the house. So if you are reading this and saying "duh everyone knows that" well let me tell you I didn't and I admit it. My mind was BLOWN right there in the middle of Ikea. And I could barely contain my excitement. A whole new world opened up. I will now buy all the plants! 

This is where I used these new LEDs in our house. We have two spotlights over the mantle and I really liked the idea of having a display of plants in the corner of the mantle to bring some depth and color into the display. But that corner is quite possibly the darkest corner in our house.

But while I was at it, I added a few more succulents in an antique milk can that I found at Antiques Village in Centerville. I fell in LOVE with this can. The eagle and the perfect color. Sigh! So I jazzed it up a little bit of greenery.

Now I am keeping my fingers crossed that with my new bulbs I can keep these new additions to our family alive! Because I really love how it all turned out! 

We love our Miami Valley Community! So we love highlighting some of our fave spots around the area. This little spot is one of my favorites in Kettering! 

OH EPIC! How I love you! if you are looking for a coffee spot that is perfect for catching up with a friend or to get some work done, you NEED to check out Epic Coffee Shoppe in Kettering located in the Castle Hills Shopping Plaza. It has cozy seating, tables to sit your laptop on and outdoor seating when we have nice Ohio weather. I personally enjoy a nice iced coffee (pictured above) while I get some work done at the bar. 

Epic offers everything from french pastries to affogato! It is a perfect, little spot to enjoy an amazing cup of coffee and treat! Go check it out - you can thank me later! 

I love S’mores flavored anything!! And I love donuts! And when those two things are combined, it's a match made in Heaven. And thanks to Duck Donuts I will have another opportunity to get ahold of a glorious S'mores donut! 

Duck Donuts is opening a second store front in Beavercreek near Fairfield Commons Mall in October. 

Duck Donuts is a specialty donut shop that creates yummy, personalized, golden brown, sent from heaven, deliciousness. You can choose toppings from some of their favorite concoctions or create your own!  If you haven't already, you need to stop in to their original Dayton store front on Brown Street near UD! You can thank me later! 

Go give Duck's a try! I just might be there!! After the gym of course!

New and interesting activity in Dayton is Wild Axe Throwing!! 

I have seen this done on some TV shows- most recently The Bachelorette, where the men try to prove how manly they truly are by hurtling an axe towards a bullseye! Umm hello!?!?  

I always thought that it looked like something fun to try! And now we can!! 

They have professionals on hand to teach you how to throw an axe (don’t we all know this already?) and more importantly how to stay out of the way! 

Check it out now! And if you go let us know how it went! 

My husband and I LOVE a good DIY project. We really are bad for each other because we fuel the need to find new projects to try in our free time? And every parent knows that we have so much free time to spend - can I get an amen?!? 

But this DIY project I'm about to share with you may be my FAVORITE to date, as a homeowner of 18 years! And trust me, I've had my fair share of DIY projects. 

I love our family room! It is in the back of the house and attached to the kitchen so our family spends the majority of our time in this room. But I hated how dark it was all the time because of the dark stain on all the wood, dark brick fireplace and dark beams. All of these things by themselves I LOVE but considering we don't get any natural light in this room, all of it together was too much of a dungeon feel. And because the room is so large, it didn't feel cozy at all. 

Here is a pic of the first week we moved in just to show you how dark it was in late afternoon:

Priorities within a month of moving in we moved the tv up on the wall and removed the wallpaper:

Then for almost 3 years I ignored the darkness because there were other things to work on in our house, so I pretty much left it the way it was below. I always thought the desk placement was weird but it was built in so I couldn't move it. And the open space below the tv just BOTHERED me and I HATED seeing all the cords and tech items. But in the whole scheme of priorities, I just chose to ignore it, until last week! 

I realized that we could extend the built in desk so that it would become an entertainment center that extended all the way to the brick so we could HIDE all the TECH items! We took off the existing doors, took out the desk drawer, added on in the empty space under the tv and built new cabinet doors. The best part of the build was that we REUSED every single piece of wood from the original 50 year old desk including the formica counter top. *I unfortunately did not take a pic of this stage* 

Then it was on to figure out what the new top would be. We were in a pickle because this new top would have to be 12 feet in length! Holy cow that is MASSIVE. Using our custom made farm table as inspiration, my hubs and I headed down to Dayton Reclamation and Restoration LLC to find some good pieces of barn wood. And we were crossing our fingers to find 12 foot lengths.

Oh and did we ever! Thank you to these folks for saving these beautiful pieces of midwest history! I love me some barn wood - oh the stories it could tell.

Now the scary part had to happen. How was I going to sand this down and stain it without RUINING it! What did we ever do without youtube! A big, huge THANK YOU to the Sons of Sawdust! After watching their "Sand reclaimed wood" video, they convinced me that I really couldn't mess up! So I went for it... with a trial, small piece of our purchased wood, of course! I had to build up a little confidence!

Now the fun started! I posted this sneak peak pic which brought on the comments "what are you building now?", "make me whatever you are building", "can't wait to see what you are doing". I love teasing my project posts on Social Media. But seriously look how beautiful this old, faded barn wood turned out!! GAH!!! We used Varathane Stain and Poly One Step in Kona. I needed to find a water based stain due to migraines caused by oil based stain. We had never used something like this before and was a little worried about the all-in-one formula but this stuff is LIFE CHANGING!!! I would highly recommend it. We used 2-3 coats to make it deep and even.

We painted the existing desk and new build with primer then with BEHR Urethane Alkyd Satin Enamel. Guess what? With this stuff you don't have to sand off the original stain!! UMMMMM HELLO!!! Thank you to the Home Depot gal who showed me this product!! We got it in a warm white (sleek white) to enhance the warmth of the wood in our living room. Only negative is that we needed several coats to get a nice even finish.

Now it was time for the big reveal.... this is my very favorite part of the DIY...

The best part of this is the cost!!! Based on our custom farmhouse table, we are estimating that the cost of a custom built 12 foot entertainment center would be at least $2000 but probably closer to 3 or 4k. Our total bill for the DIY custom build add on to the original desk was a whopping $300!!! WHAT?!?!?! Isn't that awesome! And look how bright the room is now! We don't even need to turn on any lights during the day with the curtains open. ALL THE PRAISE HANDS are up! 

I recently had a conversation with someone who is moving to our area.  He indicated that he was an active person and wanted to be located in a community that had a lot to offer in outdoor activities.  We discussed golf course communities as he is an avid golfer, but I also mentioned that our communities are very bike friendly and that we have a great Rails to Trails program.

If you are not familiar with the Rails to Trails program, this is where old railroad beds and corridors have been paved and converted to bike trails.  They are gently sloping and roll through beautifully scenic area of woods and farmland.  Anywhere the trail crosses a street, there are both warning signs to the trail user and to automobile traffic.  The beauty of this program is that it made use of areas that were abandoned with the decrease in train traffic and created a safe place for people to enjoy riding their bikes, skates, or walking/jogging without worrying about cars.  Some areas also allow horses as well.

Xenia, Ohio, is a huge hub for the bike trails in Southwestern Ohio.  The city has welcomed bikers by building a nice station with parking, restrooms and a play area for the kids.  Xenia has also widened the city streets with a dedicated area for bicyclists to ride safely, allowing them to access restaurants and amenities in downtown Xenia.  A lot of neighborhoods throughout Greene and Montgomery counties have access points to the bike trails and signage pointing to the bike routes.  Get your bike out and enjoy the ride!

This Kettering home is located on a low traffic culdesac off of Marshall Rd and offer so much for the next owner, including a nice list of recent improvements! 

• Kitchen range & fireplace converted to natural gas (2018)
• New fireplace log set and screen (2018)
• New vinyl plank flooring throughout the first floor (2018)
• New front door and storm doors (2018)
• New faucets and ceiling lighting (2018)
• New gutters and downspouts (2018)
• New water heaters (2017)
• New cement driveway (2015)
• New central air and ducts (2010)

Give us a call to take a tour of this nice spacious Kettering two-story home with Four Bedrooms, 2.5 baths, finished basement and great yard!!

For all your Kettering real estate needs visit SearchKetteringRealEstate.com