There were moments growing up where I felt beautiful, but I truly didn't feel beautiful all of the time until I became a mom. It really allowed me to realize no one is perfect.

The kitchen was the center of our household. I spent all of my time there growing up.

I started preparing meals for my family when I was 12 because both of my parents worked, but I didn't know that it was something I could make a career out of until I had my daughter and realized there were people out there who were interested in learning how to prepare a quick meal.

I prayed about it consistently - that God would direct me in the right path and that, when it would happen, I would know that I'm in the right place.

To me, the idea that any kind of disaster helps create a nation seems a ridiculous one. There was no family in the house on the land next to me, and there might have been.

Family relationships trigger childhood wounds, and those wounds often trump our rational thinking. We can't 'rationally' transcend the kind of primal pain that such relationships can arouse.

My God, it's laundry and family when I come back home. I've got to see my brother and kids, and my sister-in-law, my aunts, my uncles, cousins; everybody is here.

There are only two things a child will share willingly; communicable diseases and its mother's age.