www.heartofwisdom.com/teachinghisways
I have moved my blog and combined my homeschool and homestead blogs into one. It is much easier for me to manage at this time. I have been very busy blogging over there so please take time to visit and if you stop by please leave a comment!
Blessings,
Stacy
P.S. I am not closing this blog as in the future I may find one specific purpose to use it for ie, gardening only, recipes only, etc.
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The weather here in NW Arkanas has been crazy. The temperatures have been crazy, really warm one day and freezing the next. I have finally felt like could plant my garden without too many worries. We got up this morning and go to it.
We have a 16X8 space for our garden. We planted tomatoes, cucumber seeds, green beans, zucchini and yellow squash. I still have to buy some pepper plants....jalapeno, banana and green pepper.
My children love to work with me in the garden. Our daughter is 3 and she found evey worm and roly poly out there. See the pictures below. We had a few weed to tend to and the kids set out with their cowboy hats and garden gloves to get busy. The gloves didn't stay on long though. Once they noticed I wasn't wearing any they wanted to enjoy the feel of the dirt too!
Here is a picture of my beautiful azalea bushes.....before and after the unseasonable 18 degree weather. Also, a picture of one of our oak trees......they still haven't leafed out yet. I am not sure what will happen to them this year....it looks like this all over the area.
The above picture was taken early April and a close up shot below
This was taken a couple of weeks ago after 18 degree temps.
This is one of our poor oak trees. To the left is a sweet gum that didn't suffer any damage.
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since I have made an entry. April has brought some crazy weather to North West Arkansas. We've had 80 degree temperatures and then last week we had 18 degree temperatures. Very unusual for us. Thankfully, I delayed planting the tomatos I purchased and nothing else has been set out. I am itching to get in the garden and plant though. So is my 3 year old daughter. She has 3 flower pots to put flowers in and place in front of her play house. Both of my children will have small garden spaces all their own this year to plant whatever they want. My son is eager to grow something to enter in the county fair. He also wants to enter some photographs. I am interested in finding some really good information about "organic gardening". If anyone has any book suggestions or past blog article links I would appreciate them! Thanks in advance for any help provided.
Stacy
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Great story!!!!
Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens. "Great", she thought. "Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my sight is blurry."
She looked and looked, hoping that somehow it had landed on the ledge. But it just wasn't there.
She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying. She prayed for calm, and she prayed that she may find her contact lens.
When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found. Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains. She thought of the bible verse "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth."
She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."
Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?"
Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!
The story doesn't end there. Brenda's father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging that contact lens with the caption, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."
I think it would do all of us some good to say:
"God, I don't know why You want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if You want me to carry it, I will."
God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
Yes, I do love GOD. He is my source of existence and my Saviour. He keeps me functioning each and every day. Without Him, I am nothing, but with Him....I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. (Phil. 4:13)
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I received an email today from a friend with a link to an inpirational short movie. I wanted to share this with everyone. You can click here and view the movie.
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Aprons – Y/N? If Y, what does your favorite look like?
I don't have one yet, but do plan to make one for myself and my daughter.
Baking – Favorite thing to bake
Chocolate chip cookies
Clothesline – Y/N?
No....I really want one though. My mother thinks I am crazy. She used to use them when was younger and she really prefers her dryer. I am blessed to have a dryer that holds very large loads of clothes.....and I want a clothesline. Go figure? :)
Donuts – Have you ever made them?
Yes, and we still do. We use canned biscuits and my children think it is so much fun!
Every day – One homemaking thing you do every day
Cook. Most of the time I cook 3 meals a day.
Freezer – Do you have a separate deep freeze?
No, but I am working on that.
Garbage Disposal – Y/N?
Yes, although sometimes it is more trouble than helpful.
Handbook – What is your favorite homemaking resource?
I don't have any homemaking books. Maybe I need some.
Ironing – Love it or hate it? Or hate it but love the results?
Hate it but love the results.
Junk drawer – Y/N? Where is it?
No.....the junk usually ends up on top of my desk.
Kitchen – Color and decorating scheme
When we moved in the kitchen walls were painted mustard yellow but it had new white countertops ad the backsplash was new tiles in a blue and white pattern. I painted the walls a really deep red and moved my roosters and Ball Mason jars and old mixing bowls in. I like it much better.
Love – What is your favorite part of homemaking?
Serving my family and making memories.
Mop – Y/N?
Once a week.
Nylons – Wash by hand or in the washing machine?
Washing machine.
Oven – Do you use the window or open the oven to check?
Window.
Pizza – What do you put on yours?
I like cheese and slices of roma tomatoes.
Quiet – What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?
Read or sew.
Recipe card box – Y/N? What does it look like?
No.....I use books and the computer.
Style of house – What style is your house?
Very old....maybe 1950's....it has a couple of small additions and nothing is square. We have replaced all the old windows.....we almost froze the first winter the windows were so old.
Tablecloths and napkins – Y/N?
I am starting to use tablecloths more often now but I am not using cloth napkins.
Under the kitchen sink – Organized or toxic wasteland?
Mostly unorganized.
Vacuum – How many times per week?
At least 3 times a week.
Wash – How many loads of laundry do you do per week?
Around 6-8
X’s – Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off?
No.
Yard – Y/N? Who does what?
We have a large corner lot. My husband mows and weedeats and my son rakes leaves and cleans up after the dogs.
Zzz’s – What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?
Final kitchen clean up and start dishwasher.
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This week is flying by! I am re-organizing my kitchen, pantry, and office area this week. I have decided to store my dry beans, pasta, tea bags, etc. in jars I've collected. I am also going to put all my cookie cutters into a large cookie size jar for display. I have been washing all the decor above my cupboards and adding some "new" things that have been in storage. I have been enjoying all this work. I have also been evaluating our homeschool curriculum and methods, preparing a pre-school curriculum, journaling my personal, family, and church/ministry goals, and of course, the most important, taking care of my family and home. Our homeschool begins the third quarter Jan 8th and I am excited because our 3 year old daughter will be joining us with some pre-school lessons and during our Bible Study/Bible story time. I will also begin planning our garden soon. This year the children will have their own "spots" for planting. They enjoyed helping so much last year I told them we would let each of them have a spot to call their own. We also visited our County Fair (for the first time) and decided to enter some baking, veggies, beef jerky, crafts, photography and sewing this coming fall. So our work will begin now and we will have as much as we can prepared ahead of time. Better go for now, I hear someone calling my name...Mooooom! See ya!
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Wednesday, December 27th, we unexpectedly had to say goodbye to our cat Cheyenne. Unfortunately, sometime after we let her outside she was attacked by two roaming dogs and killed. We always let her go outside so we were very shocked that this happened. She has been in our family for 6 years this Christmas. She was gift to our son. She was a spunky, laid back, independant cat who loved everyone. Our neighbors had all grown so fond of her.
She was a beautiful cat. She was a tabby, mostly black and grey, very fluffy and had the longest, bushiest tail. We joked because sometimes from the back she resembled a raccoon. Her tail had the black bands just like a coon. She loved to play in the yard with the children. She would hide behind the bushes and come running out and then bow up her back and bounce at the kids. She always chased the football or baseball when they tumbled across the yard. She tolerated our dogs and the new puppies. She never harmed them, nor did they harm her.
I will miss her curling up on my lap while I fell asleep on the couch, the way she came up to tell me goodnight in bed...walking quietly up to me and then giving me a sweet little purr,purr,purr before she went to the foot of the bed to lay by my feet. I will miss the way she begged for milk, how she would sit at the door when she wanted out..seeming to wait patiently for us to "notice" her, all the while her tail twitching impatiently. I will miss seeing her sitting outside in the window sill...her way of letting us know she wanted back in. I will even miss the most annoying thing about her....the way she scratched the blinds in the bedroom, early each morning, to get me up to let her out for her morning hunt. She was a good hunter, and each time she brought me her kill I praised her. But anytime she brought me a live, uninjured animal I did my best to distract her so it could get away. I love all animals, but do understand she was just acting on her instinct and that is why I would praise her for sharing with me.
I am so thankful for all the memories she added to our lives. Even though she wasn't attacked right in our yard, somehow those two dogs managed to bring her back to our driveway. In this, I am thankful that I can see that even in this tragedy God blessed us with knowing what happened. She didn't just disappear, never to be seen again. We won't have to worry or wonder what happened or if she is lost and sufferring. We know she is gone and can heal and move on. We serve a God who loves us and everything He created. I know He was pleased that we loved her and cared for her and that it brought Him joy to see us have joy. She will be very much missed but I find comfort in God's Word.
Psalm 24:1
The earth is the Lord's and everything in it. The world and all it's people belong to Him.
I am glad I know the Lord and thankful He created such wonderful things for our enjoyment. I am also thankful to have the understanding that everything we have is His and we are blessed and priveleged to have been allowed the responsibility of caring for His things. We truly serve an awesome God!
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This is what my family will be cooking.....I can already smell the scents of wonderful home cooked food made with hands and hearts full of love!
Ham cooked with pineapple and cloves on top
Mashed potatoes made with half & half and real butter
Mexican corn made with rotel and cream cheese
Buttery Crescent Rolls ( by Pilsbury) :)
Assortment of cookies and truffles
Gingerbread Spice coffee or...
Regular coffee with and assortment of flavored creamers
Hot chocolate
Blessings to all this Christmas and in the coming New Year. As you celebrate remember that Jesus is the Reason for the Season!
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We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house today. We opened gifts and had a light lunch. Mom prepared a simple buffet with lots of deli meats, cheeses, pickled veggies, chips, and hoagies and onion rolls. For dessert there was fudge, Magic Cookie Bars, mixed nuts, and chocolate chip cookies. We had a wonderful time playing board games with the kids while the men watched football. The weather today was quite chilly and it started raining late in the afternoon. They are forecasting snow flurries for Christmas Day.......we'll see.
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Let me just begin by saying to all who read this: it is not my intention to offend any woman who works a full time job outside the home and
maintains all the duties of a wife, mother and homemaker. I have great respect for women who can manage all of these things and many friends who do all of this very well. However, for me, balancing all of those duties was not working out well. I am sharing the path the Lord has led me down once I truly started seeking His will for my life and His plan for my life. Each day brings some type of new revelation. I feel like a caterpillar coming out of a cocoon.
After 15 years of working in the world of banking, having a child, living in a failing marriage that ended in divorce, and then re-marrying 2 years later I was blessed to be able to stay home with my son and begin to call myself a Homemaker. Little did I know that I had no clue what that actually meant.
Once I had been home for about a month I began to realize that even though I knew how to cook well, clean house, and care for my child and husband, I had no idea how to "stay at home". I had to begin a new learning process. Thankfully, I knew the Lord and had been praying for Him to restore my walk with Him and draw me close. He did just that. He led me to a new church home where the majority of families had stay at home moms/wives. As I started getting to know them I could see a difference in them that I wanted to be in me. They enjoyed caring for their homes and had a passion for this like I had never seen. They were frugal but lacked nothing. It has taken me four years to re-train myself and my thinking. I also learned through this time that I had been raising my son with secular parenting advice instead of Biblical guidelines. So, I have had to do much re-training with my son as well.
My husband and I have been blessed with another child. But it has been a long, hard road for me. I was used to scheduling business meetings, eating on the run, getting take out if I didn't "have time" to cook, and buying convenience foods to prepare at home. Well, when you cut out an income, lifestyle changes.
This entire year I have been feeling the need to simplify our lives. Last year I wanted a sewing machine for unexplainable reasons and have begun to teach myself to sew. The Lord has blessed me with the ability to remember so much of what my Grandma taught me though in the days when I could have cared less. Thank goodness for Grandma's perseverance. I have always wanted to garden and have grown my own veggies for several years, but now I want a bigger space and I want to be able to take things to the Farmers Market. Scaling down on "things" in my home has become a priority. We started homeschooling our son this year and will be bringing our daughter in as a pre-schooler in Jan 2007. I plan menus, cut coupons, make extra for freezing, no longer buy convenience foods, cut my son and husbands hair for them, and many other things I never dreamed I would do. I have been so overwhelmed and feeling like I was going overboard with some of the changes I desire to make and then I found homesteadblogger.com after joining homeschoolblogger.com. After reading blogs such as New Harvest Homestead, Urban Homemaker, HomeMadeSimplicity I have realized what is going on inside of me. The Lord is changing me. He is changing me to be what He created me to be. All the years before I was making myself into what I wanted to be, or what I thought I wanted to be. Well, I and me don't fit very well into God's plan. It is all about Him, Jesus. I have been feeling so out of sorts and wondering where all these feelings are coming from. They haven't been bad feelings....I am enjoying life more now than ever. My dream is to live on several acres and have a small farm and be less dependant on this world. Currently we do live in town but are blessed to be in an older neighborhood with a very large corner lot, plenty of room to garden and play.
I have read Titus 2 and Proverbs 31 in the past but it is just now that these scriptures have brought revelation to me. I guess it's because I have opened my heart more to allowing the Lord to show me these things instead of trying to be an "independant woman". I am becoming a woman who is dependant on the Lord for everything. When you submit yourself completely to the Lord, He can show you His will for your life. I wasn't suppose to be doing what others were doing. Guess what, I am discovering that.....
I AM NORMAL! I am becoming what God intended for me to be. I am a Worshipper, Wife, Mother and Homemaker.
Romans 12:2
Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.
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IICorinthians9:15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!(NKJ) Thank God for his Son – a gift too wonderful for words!(NLT) This year I have been determined to make certain that Jesus is the focus of our Christmas celebration and our daily lifestyle. While studying the Names of Jesus with Caleb this month one of them was the Unspeakable or Indescribable Gift. I came across a couple of activities to do with him. One was to wrap a box to use a decoration in our home and call it the Box of Love to remind us that God’s gift of Jesus is a gift of love. The second was to write a Thank You note to God for his gift of Jesus. Well, about a week later it occurred to me that this would be a wonderful thing to do each year at Christmas to keep the focus of our celebration centered on Christ and remind us He is the best gift we have ever received. We Will keep this box out on our coffee table and have each family member write a Thank You to God for giving us Jesus. On Christmas morning, we will begin our celebration of the birth of Jesus by opening the box and offering these thank you notes as prayers to our Heavenly Father.
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Monday officially begins my week of baking for the Christmas holidays. I just got through putting some meat in the dehydrator to begin making batches of beef jerky. My dad loves this and it will be his present this year. We will be making the following this week:
Sugar cookies - the kids will be making these and using cookie cutters. My 3 year old loves to roll the dough and cut out cookies. She is a great helper.
Snickerdoodles
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles
Chocolate and Vanilla covered pretzels
Home made bread
Christmas Morning Pancake mixes for gifts in a jar
My son doesn't know this yet but we will be taking this week off from home schooling so we can spend time together as a family, making our gifts, and visiting others. He will be excited.
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This evening began the first of eight days of the Hannukah, the Festival of Lights. We had a special service at church tonight to celebrate the Miracle of the Hanukkah lights. It was beautiful! The Hanukkah Menorah was lit and the blessings read to the congregation. A dance was done to a song by Ted Pearce called "Walk in the Light". Then we had our worship service followed by a teaching about Hanukkah. The service ended with the song "Light Your World", and a skit was performed while the song played.
A couple of years ago I learned that even though the Bible does not speak specifically about a "birthdate" for Jesus, it is documented well enough to know that it most likely did not occur during the winter months because the sheep were out in the pasture. Mary conceived Jesus 6 months after Elizabeth conceived John the Baptist. Based on the Hebrew calendar John was born during Passover. Six months after this would put Jesus being born during Hanukkah. Hmm.....Jesus, who is the Light of the World being born during the Festival of Lights? Sounds like a good possibility. To learn more about Hanukkah visit BiblicalHolidays.com . It is a wonderful resource that helps Christians understand their Hebrew roots.
Please understand that I am only sharing information...I do not intend to offend anyone. Yes, we still celebrate Christmas as an observance of the birth of Christ. We have made some change regarding the way we observe this holiday though. We still give gifts to show our love but we do limit them. Each year we have been able to remove some of the things that really don't have anything to do with Christmas. It has helped bring our family closer to the Lord because we are able to keep our focus on Him, where it needs to be.
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Ingredients:
3 cans French Style Green Beans(drained)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small jar mushrooms
1 stick butter/margarine
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 8 oz jar Cheese Whiz or other processed cheese
1 small can water chesnuts(already sliced; I usually slice them in half)
Melt butter in large skillet. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add cheese whiz to skillet and stir until smooth; then add cream of mushroom soup, stirring until well blended. Add mushrooms and water chesnuts. Stir in drained green beans. Mix together througoughly. Pour into a large casserole dish and bake in 350 degree oven for approixmately 20 minutes.
I love this version of Green Bean Casserole. The cheesey taste makes it the best! I actually leave out the jar of mushrooms...the soup is enough for me. Some people leave out the water chesnuts but I love the crunch they provide.
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1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate with whipcream and a cany cane.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? We don't do Santa.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I was about eight.
9. Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve? Sometimes
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? We no longer put up a tree. We were convicted about this a couple of years ago after a teaching at church. It hasn't taken away from our celebration of Jesus birthday.....it actually keeps Him at the center of our celebration.
11. Snow: Love it or Dread it? Love it!
12. Can you ice skate? No. Haven't tried in 20 years though.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? A diamond necklace from my daddy.
I think he wanted to be the first man to give me a diamond. It was a very special gift.
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Celebrating Jesus' birthday.
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We woke up Saturday morning to find our dog Cupcake giving birth on the icy, frozen, cold patio. We knew she was getting close but didn't know it was that close.
My husband got up at 7:30, which is very unusual for him to do on a weekend. He went to check on the dogs and came running back to tell me she was having her puppies. I threw my robe on and rushed outside to find her laying on the patio instead of in the dog house with one tiny puppy that had just been born. Well, in a panic, I grabbed the puppy and called for her to come inside. Once we got in she took it away from me and tried to go back outside. I didn't even think about my actions scaring her because I was thinking only of that poor little puppy. I grabbed an old sleeping bag and Brian got Cupcake and the puppy back inside. As I helped her get settled he came back in telling me there were two more outside. Bo-Ty, the daddy, had led him to them. They were under our daughters slide and she had left them there on the frozen ground. They were still alive, and crying loudly, so I took them in and got Brian to warm some small towels in the microwave. I had to tie off and clip the placenta from one of the puppies. Then, we each took a puppy, put it in a warm towel, and began rubbing them to stimulate their circulation and warm them up. They continued crying so we knew they were fighting to live. They never gave up. We spent about an hour with them, bringing their little frozen bodies back to a normal state. I know my prayer was answered. As I brought them in the house, I was crying, praying Lord, please let them live.
By the time we felt comfortable enough to let her have the two "frozen tundra" puppies, she had given birth to four more. They were all doing well, along with the puppy we had brought in with her at the first. This made seven puppies. Once it was over, we had 10 live puppies and one that didn't make it. I am not sure if it was stillborn or if it just took too long to get the sac off. It's sac didn't break during the delivery and it was very hard to break. Cupcake couldn't do it and I ended up having to help her. We were able to get it away from her without problems.
She is a very good mother and even lets Bo-Ty and our cat, Cheyenne, come in and see the puppies. Soon, we will have to move them back outside. We are just awaiting warmer temperatures. The temps we've had are very out of the norm for this time of year. All the puppies are doing very well. I guess poor Cupcake felt lost and alone when she began giving birth in the extreme cold. I would imagine she left the two puppies alone because she could not keep them warm enough and felt helpless. She gave birth to the third one, which is the runt, right in front of the doghouse so I know she was trying to make it to a warmer spot. We had it all prepared for her. We had even moved it from the back yard onto the patio and up against the house to help her feel more secure. We are blessed to have a fenced in patio. This allows us to have a "clean" area for cooking out, etc. while the kids can go out into the fenced yard and play with the dogs.
Reflecting on this event, I see how the Lord was there for us through it all. He knew how much we cared about our animals and this birth, even though the birth was not planned. We didn't get her spayed in time and didn't know she was in heat. We made the decision to allow her to go through this pregnancy and have the puppies. I firmly believe He woke Brian up early so we could be there for our beautiful Cupcake and her puppies. If Brian hadn't woke up, we may have had 11 frozen puppies. It just continues to show me how much love the Lord has for us and for EVERYTHING He created. Those puppies are special to Him too!
Cupcake and the ten puppies
Bo-Ty - the daddy
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The snowfall we received was a beautiful ending to the ice that preceded it. Check out my sidebar for a slide show of the snow around us and my children enjoying it.
Also, please visit my homeschool blog and read about our Hometown Christmas Parade and our church float that placed 3rd in the Religious category. This was our first year to ever enter a float in the parade and we were so blessed to have placed. There is a picture of our float there also! 
Blessings to All!
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Here in Northwest Arkansas we have had our first sleet and ice. Tulsa, Ok was covered in ice this morning. We have been blessed to receive much less of the bad weather and slick road conditions. But the ice on the trees, bushes and ground is so beautiful. We are still waiting for the snow that is forecast for today.
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The path that leads to Our Country Home
Icy Pine Needles
Fall leaves on the ground, icy winter on the bushes
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