Miranda Lambert’s secret to a happy marriage with Blake Shelton: separate homes!

When Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton said "I do" in 2011, they cemented their status as a country music power couple. So how do they make it work — especially when he is in Hollywood, making and breaking the careers of aspiring singers on "The Voice," and she's pulling double duty with her solo career and a band, the Pistol Annies? The self-proclaimed "East Texas redneck girl" spills some of their relationship secrets in the new issue of Good Housekeeping.

First things first: Lambert says she's fully aware that her husband has reached sex symbol status since he took his seat in that red swivel chair on "The Voice" — and, no, it doesn't bother her one bit. "Blake's 90% good ol' boy and 10% bad boy, which is a really great balance," the 28-year-old laughs. "I'm flattered that people think he's attractive. It's cool to be on his arm, like, 'I'm with him. So, back up, ladies!'"

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But being apart from one another for much of their year-plus marriage has presented some challenges. Still, Lambert is optimistic about their situation. After all, their road to the altar was a long one. It's a well-known story that when they met in 2005 — they performed a song together on a Country Music Television special — they were instantly attracted to each other. There was a little problem though: Shelton, 36, was married. Lambert says they kept things friendly until his divorce from his road manager, Kaynette Williams, was finalized a year later.

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"It's never an easy thing to go through, but it happens every day," she says of falling in love with a married man. "People fall in and out of love; they get divorced and remarried. I didn't expect to find myself in that situation, but I just dealt with it. I think that God has a person for you; Blake Shelton is in my life for a reason. He's supposed to be my husband."

Though spending time apart from her husband is difficult at times, Lambert notes that it isn't the worst thing in the world. Besides, even when they are home together in Oklahoma, they have separate homes. The couple owns a total of 4,000 acres of property, including his and her ranches that sit 10 miles apart. Lambert purchased her '50s-era cabin prior to marrying Shelton, and it's her special place, where she lounges by the pool and cares for her five horses all day long before heading over to Shelton's ranch at dinner time. (Shelton — who is 6'5" to her 5'4" — reportedly has some difficulties navigating his wife's tiny home, ducking to get through doorways.)

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Lambert jokes to Good Housekeeping that hav­ing separate farms "will probably keep us married longer," but adds that she's looking for­ward to the when they'll have one home to call "our place." She adds that children aren't in their immediate plans either. "I don't want to raise a child on a bus or in L.A. I want to be a little more settled," she tells the magazine, adding, "Part of me thinks I should try to plan it, and part of me thinks God has a plan for my life, so why would I ever try to maneuver that?"

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Although it seems like the couple isn't completely settled yet, the "Baggage Claim" singer is just happy to have a home at all. When she was 6, her parents — who ran their own private investigator business — suffered financial woes and they were left with nothing. "My parents lost everything they had … we were homeless," Lambert reveals. "Our whole world turned upside down." Fortunately, a relative took them in and they slowly rebuilt their life. When they finally got back on their feet, they bought a farm that they could live off of and grew their own vegetables, raised their own chickens and pigs, and hunted off their land. The singer says it's taught her a valuable lesson: "I do appreciate every single dollar I earn."

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And Lambert has the same down-to-earth attitude about her body. She's less concerned with the size on the label and more about keeping her body toned. She walks, jogs, and boxes for exercise, and bans potato chips in her tour bus. "I'm not naturally small," she says. "And I'm fine with that, because so many girls come up to me and say, 'Thank you for being normal-sized — it gives us hope that you don't have to be a size 2 to be somebody.'"

For Lambert's full interview, pick up the November issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale October 16.

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