You are in better shape!!You do NOT need pain to make progress, my boy/f has been training with weights for about 13 years now and although he lifts heavy and makes good gains, he no longer gets sore...I would reccomend increasing the weight you are lifting, rather than just adding heaps of mind numbing reps, which will make it very boring and make it more likely that you will stop doing it.
Don't worry about ending up looking like a valkyrie.... unless you have unusually high testosterone levels you will just get firm, well shaped muscles. I think the fear of bulk in women is a form of body dysmorphia.
Remeber, the strength gains, and fat loss you see in the first year ofweight training do no continue at that pace... most will slow down within a few months, so appraciate them while they last rather than fearing the miracle that is quickly acheived, beautiful strong and shapely arms etc.
Good skill!!!
Jez