I look in the mirror and and wonder where I had gone. Where did that flawless, youthful looking me go? Why is this middle aged woman with slack, lackluster and wrinkled face staring back at me? I had started to panic, I was scared I had missed something in between youth and middle age. How did I get here so fast?

Then, swift like a douse of cold water, I remember. It was that thing that happened a long time ago when I decided I deserved more. It was that time when I chose to follow my heart and be with a man. Not just any man, mind you. I wanted one who could make me laugh. Well, he was handsome too, but that’s not supposed to matter

The thing is, the more I look at myself in the mirror lately, I remember now why I look this way and it makes me happy. I get more beautiful the more I stare at myself.

I see every line on my face and remember the countless moments when we laughed so hard our stomaches ached.

I remember all the times when I cried I was so happy.

I was always beautiful even during the times when I looked worn, fat and unkept. I didn’t need a mirror then, I just needed his eyes.

When I went to look for a new bathing suit this past summer, I realized why the skirted one piece and tankinis were so popular with women my age and there were no yellow polka dotted bits in that department.

But I looked closer and realized that my body has become a map. It has gone and done what even my journals and blogs could not do. It has recorded every important milestone in my life and created this landscape on me. Every peak and valley, every twist and turn were all right there. All the parts are laid out just as they were meant to be. Raw, unaltered, honest and well-worn.

All I have to do is to look and realize… Hey, I don’t look bad at all! In fact, I do believe that man is not joking whenever he marvels at how beautiful I am…. wrinkles and all.

We haven’t had a food blog update lately so to catch up, here’s a few more recipes from our food blog, Cooked from the Heart (click on the recipe titles below for the recipes):

Rice Noodles with Beef & Mint

This recipe is one of our latest favorites. We’ve made it a few times more since we realized how good it is with fresh mint! The first time I made it, I served it with rice noodles as noted in the recipe but as we found out on subsequent versions, this is just as good over steamed rice. If you’re not too much into beef, pork and chicken works quite well with the spices and the addition of mint too. You’ll probably agree that this dish is all about the mint!

Pan Fried Tilapia with Miso Curry Sauce

If you love fish, here is an easy and delicious weekday meal. If you don’t have Miso just your favorite curry sauce or sweet and sour sauce will also work nicely with this recipe.

My daughter who does not eat fish only had the vegetables in the sauce over rice and she deemed it delicious! If you’re like her and don’t like fish either, this sauce will probably work over some pan fried chicken too.

Chinese Braised Ribs

I just love ribs cut this way (so much easier to eat) and I love them braised Chinese style like you get at dim sum restaurants. We haven’t been to dim sum lately and I was having a craving so I thought I would make them myself.

Little did I know how much my husband would love them too! He usually does not like messing with dishes that have a small meat to bone ratio. He just doesn’t think the effort to be worth it. lol! But surprisingly, he really loved this dish.

Corn & Egg Drop Soup

This is the accompanying soup when I made with the Chinese braised. Since my daughter eats very little meat and was also feeling under the weather, I knew she would not want any of the braised ribs. She does love soups though and what better for a sore throat than soup, right? So I made her this egg drop soup with corn and this was all she had for dinner. She had a couple of bowls of it, so she was good

I have two amazing giveaways going on my food blog and I am using the Rafflecopter widget for the first time to make it easier for everyone to enter. If you love giveaways, you’ll love today’s post because besides from my two, I have provided links to other giveaways on the blogs.

Since I started hosting giveaways, I have also started entering quite a few of them and I tell you, there are some great giveaways out there and YES, they are all legitimate (I know there’s still skeptics out there), and yes the chances of winning are very good. I even ended up being a follower of these blogs and have gotten to know their owners.

So take note of these giveaways, and enter them soon! Some of them don’t last long.

Here are the two on my food blog:

 Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid Prize Pack
If you haven’t tried the natural cleaning products from Seventh Generation yet, here is your chance to try them out. Not only do you get 4 full sized dishwashing liquid, you get that beautiful Le Creuset baking dish, dish cloths and natural sponges. You’ll love them. I assure you!

 Barilla Whole Grain Pasta Giveaway
Now this one has a short duration and a short deadline for the winners to reply, but the effort will be so worth it! You will get a box full of goodies from Barilla, good enough to feed your family for a while. No sample sizes here either, all are full sized products. The six packs of whole grain pasta is enough to make this giveaway worthwhile but the other items take it way over the top. You’ll also get to try Barilla’s Academia line of Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Pesto, Sea Salt and Sicilian Cherry Tomatoes! Heck, you have a full meal right there, straight out of the box

MORE GIVEAWAYS ON THE WEB

And if that’s not enough for you and you want some more goodies, don’t fret. There’s plenty more. Here’s a list of giveaways that I’ve entered so far and will add more to this list as I go through my list.

Chore Pad App for iPad and iPhone from Random Dealz

Loveable Labels from Random Dealz

Howard B. Wigglebottom book from MD Momma’s Rambles & Reviews

Destiny Redeemed by Gabrielle Bisset from Reading Romances

Giant Microbes plush toy from MD Momma’s Rambles & Reviews

Carmex Healing Lotions from Woven by Words

Winner Wonderland giveaway extravaganza (over $250 in prizes!) from Queens NYC Mom

Baby Items Bundle from Untrained Hair Mom

Lego Ninjago from Africa’s Blog

$200 Cash via Paypal from Beck Valley Books

Kellogg’s Fiber Plus from the WIC Project

Ultimate Body Applicator from 7 on a Shoestring

UGLEE Pens from Let’s Start Saving Now

When you’ve been in a battle, be it personal, professional or otherwise, you can win the battle but the battle will take its toll on you. Maybe that’s why I avoid confrontations at all costs. I have very low energy and too much negativity and conflict drains me. That’s what happened to me the last couple of weeks.

I must admit, there is a part of doing battle that can be exhilirating. When your adrenalin is pumping and you’re all psyched to fight, your energy seems boundless. And when you’re still standing at the end of the siege, there is nothing like that triumphant high!

It’s the day after that sucks. You wake up from your victory celebration with a hangover for one, your muscles ache in places you didn’t even know you had muscles, and your body is bruised where you didn’t even realize you’ve been hit.

You look around you and that’s when it hits you. The battle has left on heap of a mess! And guess who’s left standing to clean it up?

That’s right, no other than…

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