I’ve been doing well—getting back into the swing of things and feeling really good, if not great. But alas, sometimes three steps forward comes with two steps back.

Note: If you haven’t read the first part of Spontaneous Combustion, this post won’t make sense to you. Take a look at that one and then come back here!

My husband and I have had this “thing” for the past several years about renewing our vows. It started as we approached our 20-year anniversary. I suggested that we renew our vows. His response was swift and definitive and went something like: “No, I did it once and I don’t need to do it again. Besides, you only want to do it so you can have a big party and be the center of attention.”

Followers, today I am pleased to introduce you to our first guest blogger, Melissa Fleming. Melissa is currently the head of Communications and chief spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She leads global media outreach and campaigns, and operates multi-media news and feature service. From October 2016 to April 2017, she served as Senior Advisor to UN Secretary-General António Guterres on his Transition Team. Melissa is also a celebrated author, advocate, and public speaker.

“It’s not that I don’t love my breasts, I guess I just love me more.”

I’ve always known I was a fighter, but a survivor? Not so much. My mother; now she was a survivor. She fled a 20-year abusive marriage with nothing but a high school education and four kids in tow, the youngest being 7 (me), and she created the best life she could. That’s what I call a survivor. I’m sure without her will to survive, my life would have gone in a very different direction.

When I was in college and later in my early 20s, our girl posse would get together, sit around in cute pajamas or Juicy Couture tracksuits, drinking cheap wine, munching on nachos, and playing one of two games – the utterly silly “Have You Ever?” or the more intriguing game “What’s Your Number?”