I want to get good enough so I can play in Mia Hamm's golf tournament for her foundation and have an event of my own someday. I'm so competitive, I don't want to go and just pretend I'm a good golfer.
I'm grateful that I got a good education and to have all the people I have around me.
In order for me to perform the best I can out on the field, I have to fuel my body with the proper nutrients to be able to do all the running. I'm running four or five miles every game, so it's a lot. Even at halftime, I take electrolytes and have half a peanut-butter-and-jelly or whatever is sitting there just to keep my engine running.
I have learned the hard way that concussions are not fun.
It's a part of my lifestyle to be healthy and eat healthy. I don't feel like I need to be like, 'You can't have this. You can't have that. You have to have this. You have to have that,' because then I feel like I will get inconsistent. I indulge when I want to, but try to be healthy every single day, too.
When I was 6 years old, I played on a coed indoor team. We were called the Cosmos. And then, after that, when I was 7, I played on an all-girls club team.
I loved Mia Hamm, and I really looked up to Julie Foudy as well, who is one of my mentors.
In 2005, I would have never guessed that I was at risk for a pulmonary embolism. I was 21 years-old, playing college soccer and just living the dream.
I don't think there's any disappointment in my career because everything that maybe didn't go my way was a learning experience.
My mantra is 'healthy body, healthy mind.'
My dad has been my coach since I was seven years old - from 7 to 18 is when he coached my club team - and so it was always in the family. He introduced me to soccer at a young age and also kind of molded me into a good player at a young age, too. Which then I grew to love the game and be as passionate as he was.
I don't want to get to a point where I consider the national team a club team.
It's a privilege and an honor to play for the national team, but I think that the training that I was in at Frankfurt was the highest level right underneath.
I surround myself with good people who make me feel great and give me positive energy.
Although, at times, soccer is a challenge to mind, body, and spirit, fundamentally, the progression of the U.S. women's game and those who play it reflects a distinctively American culture, rooted in our struggle, shared aspiration, hard work and self-determination.
Any kind of dance or house, remix type music, I really love that. That will really pump me up. I really love anything Beyonce - honestly, that would pump me up.
I always need a little something sweet after dinner. Although I try to stay pretty disciplined with my nutrition when I'm in season - my brother Kyle eats super clean and always gives me nutrition advice - when I want something, I have it because I feel like you can really get in trouble if you restrict yourself too much.
I was clipped from behind, and my leg got caught between my opponent's legs. As we fell, my leg snapped. It was a spiral fracture. They had to put in a plate and five screws. It was a devastating moment: one minute I was on cloud nine, and then I was out for the season.
There are a few moments in every game when I will have to sprint and use my explosiveness to win.
Injuries give you perspective. They teach you to cherish the moments that I might have taken for granted before.