jaceeverett - Tumblr blog

[jaceeverett]

Now there's a idea, just every guy in Merrock fighting it out in a giant pit of mud? I'm there. I was planning on being there anyway, but now I'm definitely going to be there. I feel like since he's the groom, you probably have to let him kick your ass, right? I mean if you want to be fair? We do, otherwise we stay exactly the same our entire lives without anything changing, and that includes all the bad stuff, too. That depends, do you love being alive? I'm imagining Rosalyn running all night tossing bugs in the air instead of flower petals or something. Really redneck up this wedding.

I think I'm gonna do a mud pit on the farm for his bachelor party, actually. That's where I'm gonna take him out, and anyone else who dares to challenge me. Except he just might kick my ass in those circumstances. I think we need to change as people, honestly, who we were born as can be a good starting point, but there's always more to that. That's what I hear. I should tell Cordelia I said she can bring bugs to the wedding, see how she reacts.

[jaceeverett]

"Oh, great," he laughed as she admitted that she hadn't gone apple picking in a long time, shooting her a skeptical look, "I was depending on you to be the experience one here, now you're telling me that I'm going to have to figure it out?" Not that it would be all that hard. Apple picking pretty much just required reaching up to snatch an apple off of the branch, he figured. Which brought him to another point. "Although now I'm wondering if you just wanted to bring me along because I'm tall." But he would have gone no matter what. As they made their way towards the line of wagons, filled with baskets, he looked them over, deciding that they were all pretty much the same before taking the handle of one. "Alright… which row do you want to start down?"

"Hi!" Cori grinned up at Jace cheerfully, as they hugged. Pulling away from the hug, her head followed Jace's, turning toward the orchard then back. She simply responded to his question with a nod. "I haven't done this in forever," she admitted with a slight chuckle, clearly excited to be out apple picking. Part of her was excited about the apple picking itself, part of her was more excited to see what use came out of whatever they ended up picking. She was challenging herself to get good use of the apples, knowing that that meant baking. Either way, this was all the perfect way to kick off fall. "Let's go!"

[jaceeverett]

Whereas Theo probably had all of that fatherly patience, Jason had been competitive from the get go, had basically come out of the womb wanting to challenge people, challenge life. It had given him some trouble in high school, had pushed him through the military, given him the drive to go to school, climb up his career ladder. And now? Now, he was going to use it to help him get through a corn maze. "Fine, fine," he let out a low sigh, gesturing to Riley and Lilly. "Dad says you're weak and need a head start, so go ahead, run, we'll be right behind you." Not that they would need to worry too much. Jason was notoriously good at getting himself un-lost, was pretty sure he could find his way through anything. "Let's do this," he nodded, heading for the maze's entrance, not needing to look to see if Theo was following.

Though Theo wasn't exactly competitive by nature, he did like to have a bit of fun when it came to his kids or his siblings. Teaming up with Jason to out wit and out race his kids was something he absolutely could not turn down. Plus he had gone through these mazes every year as a kid so he figured it would be an easy win for him and Jason. As they walked along, he let out an exhale, things finally starting to feel good family wise again. Seeing his kids light up made him smile as they had been through a lot recently, and thankful for Jason for bringing those smiles. "I say we let them get a head start, I'm sure between the both of us we can outsmart a couple of teenagers huh?" He asked, playfully elbowing Jason before shaking his head, "I don't think we all need to haul butt, we got this little bro."

[jaceeverett]

Letting out a low laugh when Theo tried to say that they both had a built in GPS system, he had to fight back the urge to challenge his big brother on exactly that, tell him that the next match would be just the two of them going head to head in the maze, see which one of them came out alive, but… well, team work made the dream work, and Jason was pretty sure that they could take two kids on, get through, and show them how it was done. "You guys want a head start?" he asked the kids as he stepped up closer to the entrance, peering inside. "Or should we all just count down from three and haul ass in there?" He paused, glancing sidelong as Theo. "Haul butt, or whatever."

After the talk with Jason back at the station, Theo felt confident that things were a bit better than they had been at the beginning of the summer. He wasn't confident that everything was one hundred percent perfect, and he knew it would take a a while before that would happen. However, he was glad to spend any time with Jason and especially at Creek Fest, something he always loved anyway. This year it looked a little different but he was excited for it and after Jason's invite, he was stoked more than before. Plus, add in a little friendly competition with his kids, it made for some friendly fun. "Works for me," he said with a nod as both kids gave them a thumbs up in return. "Not to mention the fact that I'm pretty sure we both have like a built in GPS system." He said, teasing his kids before taking a look over at the beginning of the maze.

[jaceeverett]

WHO: Jace & @theobrowningfd

WHERE: Corn Maze, Harmony Ranch

WHEN: Creek Fest (September, 2024)

It had taken Jace a little while to feel comfortable with the idea of hanging out with his brother, putting everything aside to spend time together outside of the occasional text message check in, or grabbing a coffee, but he also had a soft spot for Creek Fest... and spending time at it with his family. Which meant that he had extended the invitation to meet up on one of his days off, and thankfully, had been able to talk the kids into a little bit of a competition. Which did make him feel like a kid, himself, he had to admit. "So, kids vs. adults, then?" he asked, turning to look at his brother, first, and then Riley and Lilly. "Because I hate to break it to you guys, but your dad and I are old pros at this."

[jaceeverett]

"Tastes change. Or maybe it was just the charisma of seeing Legolas on the movie screen?" he suggested, knowing that it could be very easy to get swept up in the moment, carried away with how pretty someone looked. "Is that your way of saying that I shouldn't shower for two weeks?" he asked, bringing his hand up to touch his beard, and then his hair, pulled back in its usual knot at the back of his crown. "I can do the hair and beard, I just thought people liked you better when you didn't smell. You've really given me a lot to think about," he snorted softly, clearly teasing her -- he was going to keep showering. "I've just sort of accepted that maybe they view me as one of them, and I should look at it as an honor."

"Weirdly enough," Lou shook her head. "Orlando doesn't do it for me. And I'm not into the elf thing either. I think it was just a very weird, very quick pre-teen crush. I mean, I watch it now and Viggo Mortensen . . . objectively hotter. He's got that grizzled; I haven't showered in two weeks look. And it's killer. You could work with that, actually-" she kicked a few rocks his way with a crooked smile. "Study up and all. Though the slugs might really weigh you down. Have you considered friendly relocation? Or repellent?"

[jaceeverett]

I'm going to take your word for it, on account of how I want to see you and Cage wrassle it out, I'm assuming before the wedding, so either at Creek Fest or some sort of bachelor party. I'll bring it up whenever I see you guys together, just to see how this turns out. No, it's true, otherwise you just stay in this sort of stagnant place of never really changing and chalking everything up to, 'well, it was how I was raised,' and what good does that do? I try to rise above that. Or else I'd be a real jerk. Oh, I absolutely do, she's a sweetheart. Her mom absolutely loves that I've taught her to love bugs, too.

I am the superior brother. I'm not overly confident about much, but this is one thing I know for sure. We have to be accountable as human beings if we want to grow, I guess. Sounds like bullshit, but there's truth to it. We need to keep egos in check, for sure. Yeah, yeah, and you're still a wee boy in my eyes. Colton thinks I'm pretty cool, for sure, Archer is still in the throwing up on me stage but Rosalyn has had me wrapped around her little finger since day one, but I'm sure you know how that is.

[jaceeverett]

"Oh, I'm going to laugh," he argued, laughing just to prove a point, if nothing else, "because I'm going to be laughing at myself just as much as I'm laughing at you." Which was true. And how it had to be -- who wanted to live in a world where you couldn't laugh at yourself as you struggled through your dance moves? Otherwise, too much stress, too much pressure, that made for a bad time. Watching a couple of nearby people move through the steps, Jason nodded to himself before he fell into step with them, looking over at Natasha with a grin. "This ain't so bad, right?"

Shr sshook her head at Jason, before pointing a finger at him playfully, "that means no laughing then mister." She said sternly before breaking out into a grin as she took his hand to get to the dance floor. She enjoyed dancing but usually after more than a single beer, and usually she liked dancing with a group of friends or her boyfriend. Thankfully though Jason had come to be a good friend, reminding her of an older brother even she'd say. So she trusted him, but hoped he didn't laugh all the same.

[jaceeverett]

"Downtime should be earned," he shrugged one shoulder. Maybe it was the years in the service that had rewired his brain, kept him moving until he needed to sit down, needed to take a break, needed to make himself relax. But either way, if he was up and moving and working, then he was doing alright, at least in his own mind. And it was his mind that liked to be moving; otherwise, he had too much time to think, and that could sometimes get Jace into trouble, spending a little too much time thinking. "I think people here are a lot different. When I worked out in Yellowstone, or visited other parks -- the big, famous parks -- you were always running into city folk who wanted to see and do things that they saw online. You can imagine how that went." Those videos that people posted online of tourists doing ridiculous things were really not that far off base of how things actually were. "Friendly, sure, but other than promoting people eating lunch with bears -- which we do not recommend -- he didn't actually do anything to help the park system the way that Smokey does. He just had a birthday, too. Eighty years old, if you would believe it." It was kind of hard to believe that he had been around for that long, but he held a lot of meaning for Jace, he probably knew a little bit more about him than most. "The eggs themselves aren't dangerous, and the lanternflies aren't dangerous to people, but they are to the trees. They haven't really reached Maine."

“You definitely don’t seem the type,’ she acknowledged. There were a lot of people who would complain or whine about anything if given the opportunity but she couldn’t remember hearing Jason complain about anything ever. She was sure that had someone in his life he vented to and maybe she just wasn’t one of those people but she definitely thought he tended to keep things closer to the chest. She knew plenty of people just like him, which made the assumption easier on her part. People were so intricate that it was always easy to not know everything about them and all sides of who they were though. “Idleness can be difficult. I mean, I personally prefer to always have something to do myself.” She could only imagine all the things there was to do there. She didn’t know the ins and outs of his job but she knew every job came with a laundry list of tasks to keep up with daily and otherwise. “There are a lot of different kinds of people,” she acknowledged with a nod. “I’m just glad you’re mostly dealing with respectful people who just want to enjoy things and go home safe.” There was only so much you could do with the bad seeds but everyone else was much easier to control. She laughed when he said he was more of a Smokey guy. “I mean, Yogi was friendly and he just wanted to be with the humans and eat. I don’t know he was a bad guy but there was definitely a little something extra with Smokey. He’s got his whole life purpose and mission. He’s a bit more mature.” She supposed that it made sense with everything else for that to be his choice. “You have to count your blessings when it comes to your personal battle with pestilence. I know the bugs all serve a purpose but I’d just rather not be the one who has to deal with them. How dangerous are the eggs?”

[jaceeverett]

It had been a long, long time since Jason had gone apple picking. Maybe out on one of the farms nearby the parks he spent time working in, or even longer than that, as a teenager hanging out with his friends, or one of the rare outings with his mother or father, where they wanted to do something… different. Either way, he was excited to spend the time doing it that day, especially since it meant spending the time with Cori. Pushing himself off the back of his Jeep when he saw her making her way over, he smiled, returning her wave. "Hey, you," he pulled her in for a hug, before pulling back to look over towards the orchard, "ready for this adventure?"

where: Sunrise Orchard when: September 2024 who: Cori & @jaceeverett

With summer pretty much officially over, Cori was now looking forward to participating in proper fall time activities. Apple picking just felt appropriate when running through ideas with Jason for their next little adventure. Having pre-planned this idea, Cori drove out to meet up with Jace directly at the orchard at the agreed upon time. Once having parked, she texted Jason to let him know that she had arrived, before heading over to find him. Spotting him, she greeted him with a wave as she approached.

[jaceeverett]

"Damn foot, always gives me away," he laughed, taking her hand and leading her out onto the dance floor, into the thick of people that were moving through the motions already. He waited for a little while, watching their feet, their arms, each movement a little more smooth as they moved through the dance. "Right, two, two," the trailed off, beginning to step through it, and then turning back to Meera with a grin, "I think that's it, and then there's a spin here, right?" he asked as he stepped through it, holding out his hand to help her with the move.

Meera laughed out loud at the questions, "Honestly it was your tapping foot that suggested you wanted to dance." She was delighted to see how enthusiastic he was to get up and dance but as they walked to the dance floor she suddenly had a fear that he was going to be really good and he would regret standing next to her. Watching the people already on the floor for a moment she said, "So two steps left, two steps right then ....oh I missed that part."

[jaceeverett]

"Yeah, exactly," he agreed with a laugh and a nod. He couldn't even imagine how hard it would be to look at little Archie now and try to imagine him grown, being a teenager, ornery and difficult in all of the ways that he knew they could be. Mostly because he had lived it, the same way that Lucie had, which meant that at least they knew what to expect, if nothing else. "So then that begs the question -- do you also have a crush on Orlando Bloom, or was this a very specific elf-only kind of crush?" Because there were times where the character was very attractive, but the actor did nothing for you… and in that case, he could understand it. "Yes. And it wouldn't be so bad, but they're nuisances, they don't actually provide anything good to me or my life, other than leaving little slime trails all over the place. But I'm not going to salt them and watch them suffer, either. It's a whole thing."

"Distant, distant future," she said, waving off Jace's apology. She wasn't going to get ahead of herself with the worry. First, she had to deal with getting him into daycare, and then onto solid foods. She rubbed at her chin, with a sheepish smile on her face. "Legolas was just so very pretty. My brain could not compute, and he had such a cute friendship with the dwarf. It's all very tween-esque, and I grew quickly out of that pretty boy phase, but yeah, that was my little girl fantasy." One she could only hope her older siblings had very little memory of. Her face crumpled a little at the word barefoot. "So, what you are saying is that you moved out into a camper thinking about communing with nature and somewhere along the way became a slug hotspot?"

[jaceeverett]

Oh no, I volunteered for it, so I won't complain. I'd rather be out here working, getting my hands dirty, than hanging out in the office. And honestly, some days it beats being at home inventing projects to work on, you know? If I can be out doing something and helping out, that's what I'm going to try to do, basically. But Creek Fest does keep us busy. And somewhere in my stack of paperwork is a notice that they're going to be using the park for part of the Halloween celebrations, too, so might as well work on it all at once, you know? A lot. Wet leaves fall onto wet ground, and… you can figure out the rest from there, I'm sure. Plus with it being such a nice time of year, between the weather and the leaves changing, everyone's out. Oh yeah, absolutely -- that's part of the reason I pick up so many shifts the week before, more time to spend with my nieces and nephews and eating my way through every pumpkin cream cheese muffin I can find.

Ah you got put on those shifts? I mean, it's great that they'll have it all cleared up before Creek Fest, though it's not really that bad, and it's nice to have the more of the natural nature surrounding everything. Given it gives off that vibe from everything I've been told about Creek Fest thus far. I'm sure I'll be on at least one shift with you. I have a project going on in office that has me in doing a lot of boring paperwork, but a little field work too. A lot more falls? Well, that doesn't surprise me if I'm being honest but I'll come prepared for those shifts I do work. You going to manage any time to enjoy Creek Fest for yourself?

[jaceeverett]

"Yeah, my deepest sympathies for that," he made a soft clucking sound from the corner of his mouth, shaking his head. But, if it had driven him to get better at making other foods, to never find himself in that predicament, then Jace supposed that there was some sort of silver lining that had come out of all of it, at least. "Oh, true," Jason nodded his head, "I've never gotten into it myself, but I've worked with photographers quite a few times through the years. I'm always amazed at how much they tell me their equipment cost." But he supposed if it was something that someone really wanted to do, wanted to make a living off of, it was worth the money. "Maybe you just haven't had the right ones," he replied with a grin, as Chandler said that his own food was better, clearly teasing the younger man.

"You're telling me. I'm the one who had to eat that shit." Chandler laughed. He shrugged about saving money. As he had said before, it certainly helped him and let him waste money on other things instead. "Photography's my other main hobby and that can get pretty expensive. So I guess it all evens out." Granted, now that he was putting his photography business behind him he wouldn't need to buy any new equipment for awhile. "I...wouldn't go so far as to say any microwave meals taste as good as what I make. But if it tastes better than my dad's cooking, I guess it can work in a pinch."

[jaceeverett]

"Well… that might help a little bit," Jason laughed, shrugging one shoulder. He was sure that no matter what a parent did, they would always embarrass their kids, at least a little bit. It was a rite of passage -- become a dad, embarrass kids, rinse, later, repeat. But Theo was a good father, even if his kids rolled his eyes and huffed away from him when he said something that they didn't agree with. "Oh, I can imagine. Lots of tail pulls and ears in mouths," things that any dog probably didn't love going through, but if Luna had been patient enough to deal with it, then that was the sign that she was the right dog for the family, and had given them many, many years of happiness, too. "The fact that you don't know how different the animal shit can be and how gross it is tells me that you should stick with the sunflowers. Be a nice part time gig for you, then you can sell all the sunflower seeds to the farmers who need them for their chicks. Kind of comes full circle," he teased with a lopsided smile, before letting out breath. "Well, you can work on that," he assured him with a nod, tapping both hands against the arms of his chair and pushing himself up to stand. "Speaking of work, you should probably get back to it."

Rolling his eyes, he shook his head and sucked his teeth playfully at Jason. Overall his kids were pretty good and well behaved, yet they weren't exactly full blown teenagers just yet so he braced for the days when they rebelled or talked back more than once. "Hmm I guess I just have to lay off the dad jokes from time to time and learn to be hip too." He added his own shrug, as he averted Jason's gaze for a moment, playing coy with him. Nodding as he got a bit somber, "I agree. And absolutely, though I do feel bad for when the kids were young and she was young. Puppies and babies, though cute, are kind of a disaster sometimes." He rubbed his forehead a bit, as both kid's had probably grabbed Luna's tail too many times and then Duke's when they were little. But they learned and both dogs were loved beyond belief. "I mean how could gost shit or chicken shit be worse than cow shit!?" He asked, before laughing a bit and shrugging at the sunflower idea, "sunflowers are nice, would work. Maybe when I retire from here I'll open up a sunflower field or something." pondering the idea, though he had no plans on retiring anytime soon. "It's a job that I thought I took seriously, but I promise I will again. And for the rest of my life."

[jaceeverett]

What matters is that you realized that you could still make a life for yourself and figured out the best way to do it. And honestly, that's everything, you know? A lot of people would have just given up and let what happened, happened, not try to make a better life for themselves. So kudos to you. Oh God, no -- but hey, what worth having is that easy, honestly? We fight for the things that we want, and for the things that are worth our time, that's just how life works. That's very true. It took me a little bit to adjust to being in town, being back home and all of that, but I can happily say that it was the right decision for me.

It was a process to get used to everything. I was under the impression that I could get through school if I had football to power me most of the way. At least with the GED, I could just take classes, work when able to, all that. It was hard, I’m not going to say it was easy or you’d see my nose grow of my pant catch on fire. It was upsetting because football is still my passion in life, and I think I’d be able to do something with it too. Fresh starts are something great. And you get to experience new things! It’s true when they say time can be healing.

[jaceeverett]

Letting out a soft laugh when Cordelia said that she would take the pass for the rest of the year, Jason nodded his head. If anyone deserved a little bit of a break, it would be her; he knew that she had lived a lifetime in a year, and although most of it was good, it had still been a lot. "I can't wait, either," he replied with a warm smile. "I'm glad that I get to be here for it, I think part of me just always figured your wedding would have happened at nineteen, twenty, right out of high school. This is a lot more exciting," and although he never would have wished any sort of heartbreak on his sister, the fact that he could eb there for it, see the woman she had become, and watch her be so sure of herself was something that he wouldn't have traded for the entire world. "I was talking to Lucie the other day about it, I even dragged out my good tux, cleaned it up and got it ready to go. Might even wash my hair and everything," he reached up to touch the bun that he had thrown his hair into, and then settled back into the chair a little more happily, letting himself relax. As his sister talked about wanting to go to college, and their parents not having the money for it, he nodded with understanding. "Military helped me go when I wanted to study, thankfully. I'm glad that you're getting the opportunity, glad that you got the chance," he knew that Cage was taking care of his sister the way that she had always deserved, would always be grateful for that. "It's going well, though, your studies?" he gestured towards the book that she had just closed before he stopped, pausing as she asked if Cage had told her about having a baby. "Wait -- you're not pregnant, are you?" his eyes widened a little bit as he sat up on the chair, holding his hands up defensively, "he told me about Shawn! You know, the six foot tall junior in high school that you guys are watching over, not a baby!"

Her home was something that brought her peace, happiness, and just that solace that she needed. In fact, as of late, it was some place that she needed to be when she wasn't doing things for the wedding, picking up the kids, going to Colton and Shawn's games, things of that nature. This was her safe place, and it had come so far from the original bare bones that they had seen the vision in between Cage and herself. "Well thank you, I'll take that pass, for the rest of the year too." A chuckle softly leaving her lips as she tucked the highlighter into the book after putting the cap on and closing it. "Hmm a big event... I don't know what you could possibly be talking about." Giving a roll of her eyes, "But yes, I do have that big old event coming up, which I can't wait for, and not in a just to get this over with kind of way, but to just finally see everything pull together." When he said that she'd be the one to go back to school, "Well I always wanted to go to college all those years ago, but our parents fucked up that with needing to look like we had all this money we didn't have and I couldn't afford to risk taking out those kind of loans. I'm lucky now that I have Cage and we're both financially more stable that I can do this." Plus it was for their future. When he mentioned Cage telling him something she froze. What could he have told him. They were married? They were talking about having children? Big life change? "Wait.. wait... he told you willingly he's considering finally giving it up and giving me a baby?" Knowing it probably would make him flinch a little bit.