Nobody who cooks does it with full hair and makeup in front of a TV camera.

I don't spend time wondering what might be next; I just focus on trying to savor every day.

I absolutely refused to make out with the gorgeous male model.

It's for balance, if you want to do that. But the truth is that we all know how we're supposed to eat. And so if you have fried chicken and mashed potatoes and white gravy, then the next day you have, like a grape and you're totally evened out and you're good.

You start out playing in kitchens, and you end up playing in kitchens.

Divorce is so common and accepted in America that beating myself up over it may sound ridiculous. But I was raised to believe that divorce wasn't an option; to me, divorce equaled failure. I wasn't able to change that equation until I found myself in the right relationship.

I finished high school, moved to Nashville for college, and set out to break into the music business. Every night when I called home with news of my experiences, my mom and dad would encourage me to keep taking those small steps.