Stake Conference & GPC

This weekend was full of meetings for Dad, and a few for the rest of us, but it was great. Saturday we babysat Mark & Mary Hathaway's two oldest children so they could go to their training meetings (Skyler had a blast with them as usual). Then we headed into town to go to the adult meeting. Just before the meeting, we headed into my optometrist to pick out my NEW GLASSES!!

I finally broke down and went to the optometrist and decided I wasn't leaving until I had good answers. I have gone to two different doctors in the past two years and they never seem to listen and can't figure out my eye problems. I tried contact after contact with no success. They were always blurry and painful and dry and I ended up wearing my stupid glasses most of the time. So, I was dragging my feet to try out a doctor here in Montana because I figured he'd give me the same old thing of "just slowly get used to wearing contacts" or "put in eye drops more often". If I put in eye drops more often than I do now, I might as well not put the cap back on after each use. But, this guy was different. He wasn't exactly the most friendly doctor I've ever had, but he knew his stuff and wasn't afraid to tell me about it. So, verdict is I have Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis. Yeah. It's an infection that contact lens wearers can get from a build up of protein in the eyes. It blurs vision and makes the eyes dry and itchy as well as painful. Hmmm... well that makes sense! The only bummer part is the best way to cure it is to stop wearing contacts for a while. Hence, the reason why I got to pick out new glasses. I have some daily contacts I can wear for waterskiing and such but the fastest way to get better is to not wear them. So A+ that he "wasn't afraid to be the bad guy" and tell me the truth but D- that I have to wear glasses possibly forever. Note to everyone: CLEAN YOUR CONTACTS VERY WELL ALL THE TIME!! I did it to myself in high school because I thought I was invincible, you know how that goes.

Anyway, back to conference. The general authority who was supposed to come stay with us ended up changing assignments four days ago, so we had Elder Pace and Elder Seldon. They both stayed in hotel rooms and I only ended up meeting Elder Pace in person. But, they were great and we had a wonderful adult meeting and an equally great general session this morning. Dad was extremely stressed as always before the conference, so he was grateful to have it over with I think! He wore the tie with Orca whales that I gave him when I was in 8th grade :). He said "I wear this tie when I need comfort". That was good enough for me. It really was great and very spiritual. Dad gave a great talk first thing this morning, then had his new counselor speak and both general authorities spoke. Today, Skyler conducted his first FHE which was fun. We've been doing that since we were tiny, but his family wasn't quite as formal about it as we were. But, according to tradition, he stood in front of the TV to start the meeting. (There is a picture of me doing that when I was like 1, and it became Hogge Family Tradition).

Tomorrow, we are having Troy Jenrich come and texture the upstairs. Mom and I have spent days up there sanding and mudding to finish up the drywall, and now we can texture. After texturing is the best part of course... PAINT! That's our favorite. So, I've been quite motivated to get it all finished. It was quite the job and Dad always came home and said "You girls look terrible!" (we were white as ghosts with the sanding dust all over us!) But we had fun. Sky helped whenever he wasn't too tired from roofing. He is loving his job. Currently he is working on a home at Georgetown Lake which is a beautiful area and he likes that his muscles are getting big again. :) I'm still looking. I have a few prospects and hopefully something will work out soon. One is working in a youth residential treatment home which would be great experience for my major, but like mom says "If it's right, then it will work out". So, I guess I'll keep praying!