The recession is lifting, slowly but surely. Home sales are improving and unemployment rates are dropping. People are starting to feel like they can breathe again.

People are no longer sticking with jobs they hate for fear of not finding another, and surprisingly, people are feeling free to leave their spouses who they’ve also outgrown throughout the recession. That’s right, folks, as the economy turns around, people are divorcing their spouses. Free at last, free at last.

We like to believe that love can conquer all, but the fact is it can't conquer everything. It can conquer a lot, and that's great. But some problems are too heavy, too complex, too much for love to bear on its own. Love needs other things to help it along -- like patience, understanding, mental health counseling, money, and, well, a buttload of other things. So this story makes me very sad. It is the story of Rick and Leanne Clement. Rick was a soldier in Afghanistan. Leanne was the woman back home who loved him. When Rick stepped on a mine and his legs were blown off, leaving him unable to have sex or children or walk, Leanne wanted to go through with their planned wedding anyway. She still loved him. He was still Rick. Or was he?

I’m coming up on the seven-year anniversary of my second marriage.

And I’m really, really happy in my relationship with my husband.

But I can’t help thinking back to this same time in my first marriage, when I was unhappy and contemplating divorce. Which I followed through with just a year later.

What a difference the second time around has been. I have no doubt that this marriage will last for an eternity.

And I’m not alone. A study by the Marriage Foundation found that second marriages are less likely to end in divorce. While 45 percent of first marriages break up, only 31 percent of second marriages follow suit.

I like those statistics. And I agree with the reasons that go along with them: age and experience.

Sigh. Is romance officially dead? Demi Barnes, 15-year-old art student in the U.K., shared a photo of her final project with a cousin via Facebook and it's become one of those "viral" hits. It's gorgeous, has gotten more than 40,000 "likes," and is a wedding dress made out of divorce papers. 

Guess this kid hasn't swallowed the "happily ever after" princess myth! Guess how many pieces of paper she used to create the dress?

If you’ve been stuck in a bad marriage for a while, getting divorced is a release. Yes, it's still hard and sad and complicated, especially when there are children involved. But the truth is, once you're out of the marriage, it feels like a weight has been lifted.

And with that lifting can come an invigorating rush of new-found sexuality.

Sure, for some divorced women, whose marriages dissolved unexpectedly or as a result of infidelity, the heartbreak and trauma they've experienced can translate in to a complete lack of sexual desire.

But others, like me, who were unhappy in their marriages and whose divorces gave them relief, can't wait to break free.

Break free to have some hot, casual sex, that is.

When I got divorced 10 years ago, I stayed in the house that my then-husband and I had bought. After everything was finalized, I slowly began making some changes at home to reflect my newly single status.

The things I tackled first were the ones that were the most intimate between my ex and me. Anything that touched his bare body? Gone. Things that reminded me of long-ago promises? Gone. (Except, of course, our children. I didn’t get rid of them. They’re wonderful, and probably my best reminder of what was good about my marriage.)

After I finally got around to making those changes, I realized I should have made them a lot sooner. Because they stopped me from looking around the house and seeing memories of my failed marriage. Instead, I looked around and was able to see my bright future.

Out of everything I replaced, these 10 were the ones that made the most impact in my day-to-day life.

We've got some pretty messed up ideas about virginity in this country, but wow, our passive-aggressive ideas and messages about sex are nothing like Egypt's. An Egyptian woman has reportedly been ordered to pay her former husband £5240 ($7,500) in "damages" after he discovered that she lied about being a virgin. Yes, this actually went to COURT!

The court ruled that the woman had not informed her husband that she had lost her virginity prior to them getting married and had even undergone surgery to hide the fact that she no longer held her V-card. And as a result, the HUSBAND claims he was "emotionally damaged" by the phony virginity tale. He said that as a result of the deception, he was "suffering from depression and had lost trust in the people around him." WOW ... can you even imagine?

She's finally free! According to TMZ, Kim Kardashian's divorce is settled -- meaning she's no longer hitched to Kris Humphries and can move on with her life after a year-and-a-half-long battle. (Isn't it weird that their divorce lasted, like, seven-and-a-half times as long as their marriage?)

Sources connected to Kris say an announcement is expected in court today, though no details of the settlement have been released.

Kim will supposedly be present to hear the good news, although Kris is reportedly practicing with his NBA teammates and won't make an appearance. Wait a minute -- this sounds familiar.