On Turning 40

Over the past few birthdays I would think to myself, “Oh boy, another year closer to 40”; and dread thinking about it!! 

However, over the past year and half my attitude started to change.  I realized that I needed to be thankful with each passing birthday.  The lord has blessed me with another year - hallelujah!  I’m healthy, alive and get to continue being a mommy to my four children.  Thankful, so thankful.  

Now, I’m not saying I’m not going to fight the wrinkles and large pores!  That will be a battle to the end!   I can not wait to share with you my latest favorite anti-aging beauty products, I promise I will always be a product junkie!  I love the skin I’m in, but I can not help but laugh at the aging process.  Arthritis in my knees, tendinitis in my elbows, difficulty managing my weight, the hairs that pop up in areas that they do not belong, and oh yeah the memory loss seems to be getting worse.  You just have to have a sense of humor about it. 

My four kids, they sure do speak from the heart! ha!

Children certainly help you with that! “Mommy, why do your knees make those sounds when you walk up stairs?”, “Did you forget again mommy?”.   My favorite is when once I was leaning over my then 9 year old son, tucking him into bed, and he lovingly placed his hands on my face and said, “When I move my hands up, the lines go away.”  Oh boy….  

1994 with my 11 year old brother

Forty years…childhood in the first twenty; adulthood in the next twenty.  Most would say I was a lucky kid growing up.  I had two parents that loved me, fed & clothed me.  I had a home. But unfortunate circumstances scarred me, shaped the person that I grew up to be, which led to very poor decisions and struggles with being an insecure and passive person.  But that’s another story for another time.  Fast forward to now.  I’ve decided these next forty years I’m going to be the strong person God created me to be.  These next 40 years I’m going to be that woman I wanted to be so badly growing up, and the woman I want my daughters to be.  

And as far as fashion goes, this quote from Dove about sums it up:  “I don’t dress my age, I dress my self.”  It bothers me when I see articles in magazines about how you should dress at different decades.  I get it, short shorts with your booty hanging out is a “no”, but quite frankly I think at any age it should be.  If you have killer legs and you want to wear a dress that shows them off then do it!  If you want to show some shoulder, then why not wear an off-shoulder top at 60?  There are ways to dress sexy, yet classy.  I think celebrities like Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez, Cindy Crawford have helped women realize that age is just a number.  Fashion is still beautiful and important at any age.  Be who you are, who you want to be, and don’t dress your age, dress yourself!!!

Photography by : Rodrigo Moraes