David's graduation + recipe for grilled feta and buttered turnips

Please allow me to step back in time a bit to say, "Congratulations, sweets. I am so, so proud of you!" This is all so long over due (today marks 3 months since medical school graduation!), but my brain was dealing with so much in May...too much. I could barely make it through the simple tasks of each day. To clear a space for celebration, to slow my brain enough to have fun...it just wasn't possible. I tried. Really. I did. But, I know that I didn't fully participate in the graduation festivities...I certainly wasn't capable of adding to the cheery occasion in the way a wife, best friend, and partner should have. I wasn't even in a place where I felt comfortable retreating into my own world...the place I usually turn when I have nothing more to give...because my own world was tumultuous and frightening.

I'm so happy to be in a place now where jumping for joy seems to be a routine part of my day. My head is feeling clearer and I am capable of celebrating. Capable of truly experiencing, embracing, and creating happiness. So, today, I want to say thank you, David, for working so hard and getting through it all...congratulations on being a double doctor!

I know our marriage is my most important relationship. I'm sorry that I wasn't truly there for your celebration....but I hope you, too, feel that we have surfaced from the fog and found each other again. I feel renewed and want for you to know that I am forever grateful to you, and that Jack and I will always be here, right by your side.

(Jack's bowtie is from urban sunday. It's called the Seattle tie. I waited until after match day to purchase it, knowing I wanted him to wear the one with our new city's namesake!)

Today's recipe: Grilled feta, before I started my mostly plant based diet (I say "mostly" because I made the change for health reasons and my real goal is to limit saturated fats. Really limit them. Because most saturated fats come from animal products, I now choose to eat mostly plant based foods. I prefer it to eating fat-free versions of real foods...ick. I still have occasional treat meals when we go out or when I discover a new food and cannot imagine my family tasting it without me...I am obsessed with food, as may be clear, so giving up a whole category of foods, permanently, is too upsetting.).... Okay. Tangent. Back to feta cheese :) ...it used to be one of our favorite things to throw on the grill and have for dinner.

Wrapping a block of feta in foil, drizzling it with olive oil, and then grilling it for about 20 minutes makes a wonderfully savory meal paired with grilled pitas and, of course, a tasty summer vegetable! Tonight, our veggie is turnips.

If you pre-slice your turnips into thin wafers, while the feta is grilling, you can brown them in butter in a cast iron skillet taking time to pop in from outside only occasionally to turn them. They are done cooking when they are browned evenly...then, they melt in your mouth with their buttery sweetness.

It's a simple, savory, and sweet summertime meal.