Growing up as a kid, we moved all over the country on a fairly frequent basis, from New Jersey to Texas, California, Illinois... we moved 21 times in my first 17 years.

When I was growing up, it was so embarrassing to be from Jersey.

Growing up in a New Jersey suburb, my Catholic faith was an important part of my young life, shaping the way I approached the world.

When I was growing up in New Jersey, my mom would regularly take my sister and I into the city to see shows. I have many fond memories of standing in the half-price ticket line in Times Square and going to matinees.

I've lived all over the country - Michigan, California, Texas, New Jersey, Rhode Island and, now, Maine - but I never understood springtime until I spent 25 years farming in the Ozarks.

I grew up in suburban New Jersey in a transitional area that was surrounded by farmland that wasn't being cultivated.