I love sporting events and popcorn and pizza and being outside, like at a baseball or football game. I love amusement parks, going to ride roller coasters.
So many people always try to help me carry my luggage and help me do things I can do myself. If I can do it myself, I'm going to do it myself. I'm not going to let other people do it for me, and I think that's a big part of where I came from. I'm not a real prissy girl.
Right afterwards there was a whole, whole lot of press to do, so the week after, all day, every day, was press so I didn't really get a chance to celebrate.
It's nice to know you have support. Last night I got a marriage proposal. I just laughed.
All of us gave it all we've got, overcame a whole lot just being on the show and learned a lot about ourselves. We're just normal people trying to do what we love and follow our dreams.
The only reason I felt like I could sing a song like 'Blown Away' is because I have definitely lived through my fair share of trips to the cellar in the spring. We were no stranger to that. I still ask my mom, 'Is the cellar cleaned out now? Is everything OK?' Even in my new house, I had something built in it that's like a storm shelter.
Everybody knows what's going on. Even if they don't watch it they know what's happening.
I wondered how people would take me being a country music singer. I thought about deviating from that and singing other things. But... it doesn't really make sense for me to try to be something that I'm not.
Some weeks, I'm super-duper busy, so I can only fit cardio in here and there, a lot of stuff happens in the afternoon, so I can get up and have a workout, which makes me feel awesome for the rest of my day. There's just something sexy about feeling strong. And every night I'm onstage, I get another workout.
I feel like I am a celebrity for no reason, like people are resentful I didn't have to play bars for 10 years to get a record deal.
I did most of my volunteer work when I was in college because I knew of more ways to get involved. In high school, we'd do things like, there was a homeless shelter near our hometown and our church group decorated one of the rooms. In college, I was in a sorority, and we did a lot of things, like pick up trash on the highway.
My inner rock chick has always been there. I grew up listening to a lot of rock music through my sisters, who were teenagers while I was young, so they had control of the radio.
The first one I remember singing on stage was 'Somewhere Out There' from 'An American Tail.' I was around 7, and my choir teacher at school asked me if I would sing it. My parents told me that I needed to move around the stage, so for the entire time I just walked back and forth from side to side while I was singing - there's videotape of it.
We're all different. That's what makes us special. We have to love each other and get on with each other. It's not up to me to judge anybody.
Animals were my pets, and the thought of eating my pets freaked me out.
But my husband came from a small town and hardworking parents like I did, and I don't think we've lost that mind-set. We don't have a bowling alley in our basement. We don't have houses on the beach and one in New York and one in L.A.
I think it's okay to feel jealous, but it's how you deal with it that's the important thing. You have to be happy for your friends when they do well because you want them to do well. It's not a competition.
I am a Christian person, and I do love the Lord, and I feel no matter who you are, what you believe, how you live your life, it's not my place to judge. I don't have that power. I don't want that power. It's my place to love and to show God's love to other people, even if they don't live a life like I live.
To me, getting to do music and videos, you work on a character. Being onstage is acting; you get to be larger than life and larger than yourself.
My cell phone is my best friend. It's my lifeline to the outside world.
I talk to my fan club members, and I blog, and they know what's going on. But as far as Twitter, I'll be in a restaurant, and I'll get home, and somebody tweeted, and they talked about what I ordered and what I was wearing. In some cases, that could be dangerous, because you don't want everybody to know where you are every second of every day.
I love having my hair and makeup done for red carpets, but to have that done every day would be exhausting.
I feel like I'm a product of this generation where everybody listens to charts with diverse music.
It's so easy to get caught up in this weird life. This isn't normal and I'm not singing for people that live my life. I'm singing to the life I used to have. The life I want to have again.
Every day is a new day, and you'll never be able to find happiness if you don't move on.
Nobody's going to tell me that my dog doesn't love me. That's crazy talk.
When I'm with my parents, that's the place I can unplug. That's the place I can shut down and not worry about work or what's going on. I go home and hang out with them. I sleep more there than any place else ever.
Once you get into a routine of eating healthy, it hurts twice as much when you fall off the wagon. But it's nice to have a few bites of something you like. I'm not a sweets person, but I love pasta and pizza - oh, buddy!
I would love to see more women making their mark in the music that I love so much ... There are so many more out there just waiting for their shot. I hope they get it!
I've heard all kinds of crazy rumors about myself. I've even heard that I'm pregnant! I've become real good about laughing things off - I figure I'd better get used to it.
A lot of people think I don't like them just because I'm pretty quiet. But there are certain things people don't necessarily need to know. There's got to be some things for me.
It's hard to find normal celebrities.