Elliott’s First Book — and a Giveaway to Win Your Copy!

FullSizeRender(4) I’m so excited to share some big news with you today: my husband’s first book was just published!

Elliott has been working on this novel since before Gil was born, beginning with weekend mornings and workday evenings in Sicily when he would quietly close the bedroom door for a few hours, turn off the internet on his computer, and write. Even though it was a long, long road to get to this point — a published novel!!! — he never lost that gleam of excitement in his eye. He had a story, a good story, and he couldn’t wait to get it on paper and out into the world.

So what is the story? Cole McBride, a Special Forces veterinarian, is in the Congo doing research when he discovers a family of gorillas suffering from an unknown illness. With his beautiful South African coworker, he cares for an orphaned gorilla suffering from the illness, and then learns that a nearby aid hospital just admitted a patient with a strangely similar human case. Cole realizes he’s in a race against time to discover the virus’s origins and to stop it from spreading around the world. His journey spans the globe from Iran to Washington, D.C., and leads up to a white-knuckle 4th of July finale.

The Chimera Sequence falls squarely into the thriller category, and it is much more interesting and a lot harder to put down than most of the books I recommended last week! The book has been extremely well-received since it was released a few weeks ago: he has 44 reviews on Amazon (4.7 stars!), 32 reviews on Audible (4.2 stars), and 24 reviews on Goodreads (4.47 stars).

Yes, it’s on Audible, too, and he got an amazing narrator to read the book — just in case audio books are more your speed!

Every step along the way, Elliott has made thousands of decisions about exactly how this book should look, from each word on the page to the font to the cover design to the author photograph. And for each and every decision, he’s turned to me and asked my opinion, or asked for my help. I can’t tell you how many hundreds of times we examined another draft of the cover together before he ultimately decided to change one more thing! It was truly amazing to be by his side for all of it, to edit the first rough draft, to take his author photo for the back cover, to hold the first proof in my hands.

Bit by bit, I watched my husband craft a beautiful thing. He was a perfectionist about it, thoughtful and meticulous, and I watched his stamina and dedication with awe. Even now, when I see copies in our house, I’m amazed that he did this and it’s finished. The book is beautiful, and we’re so proud of him and of it!

The_Chimera_Sequence_Elliott_Garber copy

And now it’s your turn! Would you like to win a copy, signed by the author himself? Just comment on this post for a chance to win! If you’d like to earn extra entries, you can share this blog post (or a link to Elliott’s book) on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or another social media platform, and let me know that you did so in a comment.

Winner will be chosen next Wednesday, Sept 30, at midnight and announced the next morning. Good luck and happy reading!!!

69 :: in Uncategorized

On Becca’s Bookshelf // July 2015 Edition

Recently Updated5 I haven’t done one of these in a while! Did you guys get to read a lot this summer? Sometimes I find that I have less time in the looser, less-scheduled days of summer… and sometimes I have more! July was a good month because we spent two weeks of it back in Virginia with family — and lots of aunts and uncles and grandparents played with our kids while I got to read. ;)

  • Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Ted Tripp Took me 13 months to finish it, but I finally did! In the end, the book challenged and inspired me in my relationship with my children and my attitude toward training up a child in the way he should go. I deeply appreciate that the author’s main message is, “In the final analysis, you must entrust your children to God… the God who has dealt so graciously with you.” Amen to that.  4 stars
  • Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan Such a sweet, heartwarming book! I couldn’t put it down. It’s a lighthearted British novel about a young woman who moves to a little Cornish town to get a fresh start in life, and in her newfound loneliness and spare time, she starts baking bread. Her delicious loaves win her a place in the heart of the town. Polly’s baking, kindness, and determination for a fresh, simple start in life made for a wonderful read.  4 stars
  • American Wife by Taya Kyle I originally decided to read this because the Naval Special Warfare (aka SEALs) wives were reading it for book club, but in the end I’m glad I read it for other reasons, too. It is a sad story of a marriage that went through extremes ups and downs with deployment and the demands of NSW life, but then achieved a level of peace and camaraderie — right before Chris Kyle (of the movie American Sniper) was killed in a tragic shooting. Taya writes about the year afterwards and how she coped, grieved, and matured. I think it is a stunning look into the heart of grief, and it is handled with grace, honesty, and faith. — 3 stars
  • Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin Once again, Gretchen approaches finding joy in her life with a thoughtful and devoted year of goal-setting, goal-adjusting, and goal-achieving. I enjoyed it, just as I did The Happiness Project, but once again it grew tedious at times. Maybe I just feel like her ultimate purpose (to be happy) felt temporal, and so it’s hard to get totally on board. Overall a worthwhile read, and very inspiring about setting goals and accomplishing them.  3 stars
  • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury — This is a quick read that — although written in the 1950s — was amazingly insightful for its time. Sadly for us, the author’s predictions about our addiction to screens and disregard of history (the wisdom inside of books) become more and more accurate every year. Compelling and masterfully written. I’m so glad I finally read this one.  4 stars
  • An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott I’ve loved this book since I was a girl, and I’ve enjoyed coming back to it over the years. It’s the story of country-girl Polly (another Polly!) and her interactions with a city-bred family, showing the ways her values of honesty, mercy, and compassion win out in the end. Always a sweet reminder of remaining true to yourself and good, if old-fashioned, morals. It usually pays off!  4 stars
  • The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Timothy Keller Every Christian should read this… probably every week. Such a good reminder to find our true value in Christ’s finished work on the cross, rather than in our own self-fulfillment and self-worth. And because it’s only a very slim 45 pages, it takes just an hour to read!  5 stars
  • Why Christian Kids Need a Christian Education by Douglas Wilson Another quick book, easy to read in an hour. For me, Douglas Wilson is a tough guy to love. However, I do appreciate the case for a strong Christian culture and also that the most important work you have in this life is raising your children in an environment where they witness God’s work in history and goodness in their lives, that they might love and know him always. I am not sure that means you avoid “government schools” (his derogatory term for public schools) entirely, though.  — 2 stars

     ——–

There are a few hot topics about parenting mentioned in these books! Have you read any of these? Do you agree or disagree with my conclusions?

If you’d like other reading suggestions, check out my book review archives here!

4 :: in book reviews, good reads

Into the High Sierras! Our Kid-Free Adventure in Yosemite (Part 2)

IMG_0239 This story picks up midway through our five-day hiking trip in Yosemite. Part 1 is here!

When I left off, we were at Merced Lake High Sierra Camp (HSC) for the night. We slept well, sharing a tent with some roommates we’d had before: an older couple who were traveling by mule train between camps instead of hiking between camps. We really liked them, and we deeply respected their mule wrangler, a tall and dignified woman in her 60s named Sheridan. She’s been leading mule trains in Yosemite for over 30 years!

IMG_0243 At 7am, the bell rang for hot drinks, and everyone gathered outside the meal tent to drink hot coffee and talk. Afterwards we feasted on cream of wheat, eggs, sausage, pancakes, hash browns, and fresh fruit.

IMG_0253 We had the steepest hike ahead of us that day to Vogelsang HSC: 3,000 feet of elevation gain over about 7.5 miles. That morning Sheridan came up to us and said, “My pack mule is carrying a light load. Would you like to give me some extra things in your packs and I’ll carry them for you? I can give them back to you at Vogelsang tonight.”

What a gift! We unpacked everything but the essentials and enjoyed a lighter load up into the mountains that day.

becca-garber-yosemite-high-sierra-camps-5 After a couple of miles, we came to a fork in the road. One trail was shorter but wound through a dry valley, and the other trail was a couple miles longer and steeper over Vogelsang Pass. Which to choose? Sheridan and other veterans of these trails had strongly recommended the latter trail. We finally decided to take the road less taken… or at least more beautiful.

IMG_0261 becca-garber-yosemite-high-sierra-camps-6 We purchased our lunches each day at each camp: two PB&J sandwiches and two pieces of fruit. Today for the first time we got three-layer sandwiches; they knew we had a hard hike ahead of us!

Also pictured here are my moleskin- and duct-tape-wrapped toes. I learned that duct tape works a lot better and actually stays on, so by the end of our trip four of my toes were wrapped in thick silver tape! Trust me, it’s works like a charm. (You just might have to take a long bath before you can get it off.)

IMG_0308 (1) becca-garber-yosemite-high-sierra-camps-7 Just before our final steep climb over Vogelsang Pass, we passed through the most beautiful valley. We lingered there, taking pictures and savoring the flowers and quiet creek.  becca-garber-yosemite-high-sierra-camps-8 IMG_0327 And then we climbed! Well done, Elliott, on the selfie with the big camera.

IMG_0329 That’s the beautiful little valley down below, and Merced Lake is back over those near mountains.

IMG_0335 At the top of Vogelsang Pass, where it was a lot winder and colder than it looks!

IMG_0340 (1) Poor little frogs, so cold they could hardly move!

IMG_0352 Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, where it was unfortunately so cold that we I put on about 4 extra layers and a hat before I could sit outside and read comfortably. 10,300 feet!

IMG_0354 Steak and baked potatoes with all the fixings that night, and some kind of amazing chocolate cake with whipped cream and mint for dessert. Also, for the very first time, Sheridan invited us into her pre-dinner social group with her box of wine (carried by her pack mule) and asked us to sit with her group and another mule wrangler’s group at dinner… so basically we felt like the cool crowd that night.

IMG_0359 Beautiful but very cold sunset! We lit the wood stove in our tent for the first time that night.

IMG_0371 The next morning Elliott fired up the stove again while we got ready for our last hike.

IMG_0372 Beautiful Vogelsang HSC, which by 9am was already warm enough for short sleeves in the sunshine.

IMG_0378 This was perhaps my least-favorite trail of all, unfortunately. The 8 miles wound steadily downward (no uphill relief for your knees and feet) over a powdery, chewed-up trail, and it marched down the center of a valley without much change in terrain. Made me realize how much I enjoyed that challenging, beautiful, varied hike the day before.

However, I also think we were anxious because we knew we were just a couple of hours away from talking to our kids, finding out if they were ok, and putting our minds at ease.

Some of you, I know, might wonder how a young mother can leave her kids for 5 days, be totally out of touch with them, and bear the separation — especially those of you who have young babies and can’t imagine doing such a thing! I will tell you that it wasn’t easy, and I wouldn’t have chosen it myself (although I loved being unplugged otherwise). Sure, I like taking short breaks from my kids, but generally I’m with them most of their waking hours, and they are the dearest people in the world to me. As attached parents go, Elliott and I are pretty attached.

So I chose at the start of the hike to pray every time I thought of Lena and Gil and commit them to the Lord’s care (knowing that we do not know our day or hour to die — or be hurt, or whatever else — and I could not do much about that wherever I was). And after that, I just did not allow myself to think about them any more. Praise God, it wasn’t that hard, and I never descended into panic, although I could feel intense anxiety creeping at the edges of my consciousness before I pushed it away.

I also know that part of our peace came from knowing they had such excellent babysitters. Our parents adore their grandchildren but also know how to say “no,” share our values down to the minutiae, and spend a lot of time with their grandchildren and in our home and so know the kids’ routine and personalities very well. We couldn’t have left them in better hands. Thank you again, parents!!!

IMG_0383 And there I am, done with the hike! We called Lena and Gil shortly after that, and they were headed back from church with my parents and were happily chattering and glad to hear from us. My mom told us that they had been very calm and peaceful while we were gone, didn’t ask about us that much, and knew we were coming back in a few days. Gil even called “Grammie!” instead of “Mama!” when he woke up from his nap, and was proud of that fact.

IMG_0386 And now… on to a much less rustic side of our trip! We spent a night in The Ahwahnee Hotel, a famous old lodge in Yosemite that has housed presidents and queens, and had a deep bathtub, a bottle of body lotion, and a soft robe that I couldn’t wait to enjoy.

IMG_0402 The magnificent Great Lounge on the main floor, where we sat for a long time reading and savoring tea and cookies during the afternoon tea hour. IMG_0404 The facade is famous and blends in so beautifully with the surrounding park.

IMG_0406 My scruffy hiking buddy in the famous Ahwahnee dining room! becca-garber-yosemite-high-sierra-camps-9 The next day we rented bikes and pedaled around Yosemite Valley, exploring trails, reading books, and even seeing our first bear. Poor guy was a teenager and looked pretty scrawny, almost like a dog wandering through the woods.

IMG_0423 (1) We also hiked up to Vernal Falls, which is usually about 20xs larger than this stream coming down the rocks. The California drought is really affecting Yosemite! We sat for a long time on this rock, reading and watching swimmers down below playing in the cold spray.

IMG_0425 At the top of Vernal Falls… more like Vernal Drips. We also saw Nevada Falls above it, equally anemic. Oh well, the hike was beautiful, and we loved those steep, rugged granite rock faces.

IMG_0430 Speaking of which… this was the last photo I took of them before we headed home…

becca-garber-home-from-yosemite … to these precious people. Happy day! Elliott and I feel rich indeed after such a trip and such healthy, happy, cute little people to come home to! Thanks for adventuring with me, Elliott; I hope this is just the first long hiking trip of many we take together.

13 :: in hiking, husband, marriage, travel

Into the High Sierras! Our Kid-Free Adventure in Yosemite (Part I)

Version 2 We’re back from a week in Yosemite… a week with no kids and no cell phone reception! For those who are curious about what we did and how we did it, here is a bit of our itinerary, and also all my best photos.

Our children are now 4.5 and 2.5, and so Elliott and I had been talking about taking a longer trip away, just the two of us. We’ve slipped away before, but never for more than two nights. This time we were dreaming of going for a week or so, maybe out of cell phone reception, and perhaps as far-flung as South America.

The grandparents eagerly lined up to care for the kids; Elliott’s parents came to our house the first three days and my parents took over for the final four days of our trip. Thank you again, wonderful parents, for making this possible!

Eventually we decided to do something rugged, something we couldn’t do with our children anytime soon. We chose the Yosemite High Sierra Camps loop, which is a network of five camps each located about 10 miles apart, and all at about 9,000-10,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of northern California. We chose the option that allowed us to eat a full breakfast and dinner at each camp and sleep in their tent cabins (more about those below), which meant that we only had to bring a daypack with us that held our clothes, toiletries, and books.

And then at 4am on Wednesday, August 26, we took off for Yosemite!

IMG_1128 After eight hours of driving, we arrived and found a place to leave our rental car for a few days. Then we caught the shuttle to the trailhead and started walking. By now it was about 4pm and dinner would be served at the camp at 6:30, so we were glad we only had 2.5 miles to go that evening to get to our first camp.

IMG_1131 IMG_1134 May Lake High Sierra Camp is beautiful, especially because of the quiet, calm mirror of the lake itself right next to the camp.

IMG_1136

IMG_1142 That night we got our introduction to the meals at the camps. Each one was better than the last!

At 6pm the bell rang for hot drinks, and everyone gathered to talk and sip tea, coffee, or hot cocoa. At 6:30 the bell rang again, and everyone filed into the meal tent to share long tables and eat a family-style meal. Dinner always started off with a bowl of homemade soup, freshly baked bread (at 10,000 feet!), and a green salad. Afterwards came the main course (salmon, pulled pork, chicken, steak, spaghetti and meatballs… it changed every night) accompanied by sides like roasted vegetables or rice. And they always served dessert!

That night we slept for the first time in a tent cabin. We always hoped to get our own tent cabin, but they were four- to six-person tents and we never got so lucky! Thankfully we always had great roommates, and with earplugs we didn’t hear any snoring. The cots were comfortable, and we slept in our own sheet sacks between the blankets and pillows that the camp provided.

IMG_1140 Beautiful spot for morning worship by the lake!

becca-garber-yosemite-high-sierra-camps-1 After hot drinks at 7am and then breakfast at 7:30 (hot oatmeal or cold cereal, fresh fruit, pancakes, bacon or sausage, and a large omelet to share… it was ridiculously good food), we set off on our 9-mile hike to Sunrise Lakes High Sierra Camp.

IMG_1147 (1) Along the way we stopped for our last bit of cell phone reception to call our kids for the next four days. A mule supply train walked by, carrying food to May Lake for that evening’s dinner.

IMG_1152 IMG_1155 I waited by this lake for 1.5 hours while Elliott decided to catch the shuttle back to the car, dump a bunch of extra stuff he had overpacked, and get my camera — because my phone battery was dying quickly and I wanted to take lots of photos. A good decision all around, although it set us back on our hike that day.

IMG_0121 This is one of the Sunrise Lakes, which were all so calm and beautiful. This was the hardest day of hiking for me, because the last six miles of the hike were all uphill, and I was really feeling the altitude. That night I woke up to a splitting headache that lasted most of the night, even after I took some Ibuprofen. Thankfully, though, that was the turning point! Afterwards the hiking was smooth sailing.

IMG_0132 Setting off across Sunrise Meadows for our third day on the trails. My naturalist husband loved watching and identifying birds and animals along the way, so this was a familiar pose.

IMG_0134 Gray morning because of a forest fire nearby. Thankfully this is the closest we got to one. becca-garber-yosemite-high-sierra-camps-3 becca-garber-yosemite-high-sierra-camps-4 My husband catching trout with his bare hands on our lunch break! And me by a mountain juniper tree, one of my favorites that I learned to recognize on this trip.

IMG_0187 IMG_0209 IMG_0235 Merced Lake High Sierra Camp was the largest of the five camps, with about two dozen tent cabins arranged in a circle in a meadow. We made friends that night with some hikers our own age from the South, two things which were pretty unusual — everyone else was middle-aged and from Minnesota.

OK, just kidding about Minnesota.

IMG_0231 We spent the afternoon on the beach by the creek at Merced Lake, reading and dozing. Actually, Elliott said, “This photo should be titled, ‘Where Becca took a nap.'” There are few things more satisfying than sleeping, though, after you have finished your hard work for the day and have nothing else to do — no dinner to make, no kids to care for, no work to accomplish — nothing else to do all day… except rest!

And so we did.

More tomorrow from the rest of our hike!

14 :: in hiking, husband, marriage, travel

Sweet Summertime in Virginia

IMG_0009 So we took this trip to Virginia in early July, meaning I am only about a month behind! We flew home to surprise my mom on July 7, then spent an extra week there visiting family and savoring that awfully muggy green gorgeousness of a Virginia summer.

With my mom, we visited a local farm with a carousel, jumped through sprinklers, bravely pulled off band-aids, and rode the neighbor kid’s bicycles:

becca-garber-virginia-summer-1.jpg IMG_0119 becca-garber-virginia-summer-2 We also met Lena and Gil’s first and only cousin for the very first time! Eden, Elliott’s older sister, got married two years ago to Charlie, and their son was born in April. We were thrilled to meet him and spend as much time with him as possible!

IMG_0078 On Saturday morning I took the kids into D.C. to have breakfast at Jimmy T’s Diner with my sister, Emily. She lives a few blocks from where Elliott and I lived when we first got married!

IMG_0396 Later we all met up with our mom and her friend Berta to visit the Kenilworth Gardens in D.C. for the Lotus & Water Lily Festival. I had never seen a lotus in person, and they are so intricate and beautiful. I had also never seen an aunt who got her face painted right along with her niece and nephew… what a sport!

IMG_0211 becca-garber-virginia-summer-6 becca-garber-virginia-summer-3 IMG_0407 Another night, all the Garber siblings (and my sister) met at Jon and Erika‘s new apartment on Capitol Hill for a sibling picnic. Such a magical evening!

IMG_0100 IMG_0408 becca-garber-virginia-summer-4 In between visits to D.C., life at my parents’ house looked like this: wagon rides around the neighborhood and playing with toys on the living room rug. The stuff of childhood that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

becca-garber-virginia-summer-5 And then home again to San Diego and to Elliott, who we missed very much! Lena and Gil waited so patiently until they were buckled in their seats before they could open their backpacks and find the treat (gummy bears, I think) that I had stashed there for them.

IMG_0285 And finally, two great little travelers. I love them so!

IMG_0289 Some of you know that we’ve already made another trip back to the East Coast in the past month, so there is more updating to be done! Plus I’m excited to share my July book reviews, which hopefully will be coming soon with some good end-of-summer reads for you.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

xoxo

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
23 :: in DC, family, home sweet home, life lately, travel, Virginia

Powered by WordPress. Designed by WooThemes