adventures and life lessons of a super-woman: There's treasure in the journey

It's starting to be the changing of a season. Soon leaves will change colors, and we're already waking up to crisper mornings. The kids have started back to school, and Friday nights are already being spent in the stadium, under the lights, cheering.

Today, I got one step closer to accomplishing my goal of finishing seeing all of the Ohio castles before the end of summer.

We visited the Piatt Castles. The two castles, approximately a mile apart were build by brothers, Adam and Don.

Construction was started on the smaller of the Chateaus (Mac-O-Cheek) by Abram in 1864. The home was designed for more of a family. The larger of the castles wasn't finished until approximately a decade later, and was built to be a much larger, more opulent show piece.

Both of the castles were designed in the popular Gothic style, and display hand painted ceilings. While both of the homes display numerous antiques (no touching please) that belonged to the Piatt family through the years, the older of the homes is in much better condition.

The smaller of the castles was kept in the family, through the generations, while the newer chateau only came to be back in the family's possession in recent years, and has a lot of repairs that are needed. However, you can close your eyes and smell that dusty old book smell in the library, and look up and view the ceilings, and imagine walking into the home in a ballgown when it was first built.

If you decide to peruse the castles, it is $25 to tour both, and takes about two hours to explore both of them. Although the tours are self guided, you will be greeted by staff that are friendly, talkative, and knowledgeable about not only the castles, but history in general.

While we're talking about these castles, earlier in the summer I had a brief visit to Landoll's Mohican Castle. This particular castle was built by a veteran who fell in love with the European castles.

While I was only able to tour the outside, due to it being very early, and the fact that Mohican is a bed and breakfast, the peaceful setting in the woods is worth the drive.

What's interesting to note about several of the castles that I have visited in Ohio, is that the builders were veterans of various historical wars, and that several of them had their hands in the publishing business. (Fun history facts, right? Writers, and our imaginations)

I started this post talking about the changing of the seasons. There is a connection to these castles. See, visiting these castles has been a journey for me since the summer of 2014, when I fell in love with the castle in Loveland and found out about the numerous other castles in Ohio.

At that time, I was full of fresh hope and inspiration about the beginning of a new career, and the possibility of a bigger life, and wanted to share my bigger life with the world.

I'm down to only one Ohio castle left to visit, which I plan to do in two weeks.

During these trips, I have talked with friends about friendship, life, marriage, divorces, break-ups, falling in love. Sometimes I've driven these roads alone, with only the radio, when my soul needed cleansing.

For me, it's closing a chapter of my life. In this chapter I have been through numerous changes, met goals, failed, and gotten back up and tried again. I've made and lost friends, fell in love and let that go, and let my kids learn to stand on their own. I've changed careers, and there are many people who have touched my life and become a part of my own personal story.

For those that haven't heard, I'm currently editing my novel, with intentions to begin publishing in January.(Here is my plug, BUY MY BOOK) This too, will be the closing of a chapter for me.

I'm currently only working one job, but doing volunteering, on a scale that made my sister-in-law chuckle when I said, "Maybe it's that I just don't know how to relax."

Maybe that's true, maybe relaxing is hard for me. Maybe it's because I have goals to be better than I ever thought I could be.

Last night, I spent time with my brother and his wife, just relaxing and watching movies. Today, I will spend time with my cousin's family, after a novel editing session with one of the besties.

This summer I've attended a concert with other besties, and watched a long time friend get married. All of which made me realize, we really do need our girlfriends. When life gets tough, sometimes laughing over a drink, or as you spray CK1 in an ode to your lost teenage years, can lift your spirits. We need the people that understand our own personal histories, and understand the path we're trying to walk.

We're nine months into 2018, soon it will be time for me to evaluate this year's life goals, and work on that five year plan. Do you think I've met this year's goals? (I haven't looked yet. )

So, what should I do after I visit the last castle? Where do you think my road should take me next? I have some ideas, but I'm interested in what my audience has to say.

I do encourage everyone, whether you love history or not, to visit these castles, many of which are historical landmarks, architectural treasures, and have fascinating stories in how they came to be.

Sometimes the season changing takes a little longer. Sometimes our journeys last longer than we think they will, and there are pitfalls and unexpected changes along the way, and sometimes, you find a castle in a cornfield.