Lauren Alaina was only 16 when she first took the American Idol stage seven years ago. She'd been raised in Georgia on a mix of Poison, FireHouse, Cinderella, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire and Shania Twain, according to All Access.

But it looks like there was probably a lot of Blake Shelton love at some point. For Throwback Thursday, Alaina posted a picture of her and Shelton at a meet-and-greet from at least a decade ago.

"I grew up listening to traditional country. Country music is my heart, but I always like sharing the other people I grew up listening to, because I think they're a little bit shocking," Alaina told All Access.

As for her 2011 Idol run -- she was a runner-up to Scotty McCreery -- Alaina admits it changed everything for her. Some for the better and some not so much.

"I went from being a worker at CeCe's Pizza to, all of a sudden, playing in arenas and meeting all of these people. I was so young. I didn't really know what was expected of me, and I didn't really have the team that I have now to prepare me well," she said.

She also didn't have a plan B if music didn't work out.

"I lived in Franklin when I moved to Nashville -- I lived in a very nice condo -- and, I lived this luxurious life. Then, three years ago, I had no money left, and I completely lost everything I had. A lot of people would go home if that happened to them, but I just couldn't. I believed in my dream too much," she said. "It was probably foolish, but it worked out now.

"Giving up was never an option for me."