I grew up asking for everything under the sun for Christmas, but I knew I wasn't going to get it all.

Country music is the people's music. It just speaks about real life and about truth and it tells things how they really are.

I wasn't a great background singer.

Stand up for what you believe. Follow your gut, which most of the time is your heart talking. This has been my hardest lesson. I have given this advice and not always followed it myself. The truth is, there is no other way.

I was adopted into this incredible home, a loving, positive environment, yet I had this yearning, this kind of darkness that was also inside me.

You can't sit back. My husband and I have made the choice that our marriage is the most important thing to us. We respect what we have and understand how we need to feed it.

I think what makes our marriage work amid all the glare is that my husband is my best friend. He inspires everything in my life and enables me to do the best that I can. I want to hang out with him more than anyone.