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General, Life

Moving Forward

Hello incredible people and Happy New Year to you all!

How are you feeling and did you enjoy Christmas? That’s an honest question, not the sort where we all answer “Yes it was lovely. You?”

There’s a huge expectation on us all to have a wonderful Christmas. That is not always the reality and it’s ok to say so. This year for me was ok, but to be honest I’m glad it’s over. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy myself at all, we had some fab times, especially with the kids when they were with us.It was their Dads turn to have them and considering I have been doing this since they were 3 and 5, I found it incredibly difficult this year, it’s never quite the same without them.

I do have to quickly mention Saffie who was so sweet and made Christmas Day for us, she opened her presents and was hilarious, by the time she was done with hers she wanted to help us with ours! Really was like having a toddler around!

Anyway wether you had the best Christmas ever or the worst it’s all part of life and if it really wasn’t a good one for you it doesn’t have to be any indication of the year ahead, which brings me onto the following.

As you know I have been working at The White Company in the lead up to Christmas for a couple of months. I did apply for one of the part-time permanent positions but I wan’t successful in getting it. I have to be honest and say that I was completely gutted! It wasn’t how I was hoping for the new year to start. Working there has been such an enjoyable and educational experience, the people, staff, customers and the products. Earning some money was also a huge bonus! The staff were so lovely and I was never made to feel any different to the permanent staff, as I think most of the seasonal staff would agree. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I’m going to talk more about dealing with disappointment in the next post.

Anyway I am now feeling really positive about the new year and what’s in store. I was thinking about my post this time last year Not all Singing and Dancing which you may find helpful if your not feeling it. So much of how we move forward in our lives is our attitude. I also had a look back on Time for Change and the list of things that I hoped to achieve last year. Before I went back to look I had decided in my head that I had ‘failed’ as I didn’t think I’d done anything on there, it felt so good when I realised I had.

Here is a copy of the original list

* a photography course

* a writing course

* invest more in friendships

* step out into new ventures and not shy away for fear of failure

* help others to realise and achieve their goals in life

There are several things I have done to step out and not hold back because of fear such as doing my first vlog last year. It was only one and I have been meaning to do more, but it does still make me feel very far out of my comfort zone, maybe this year should be the year of doing more vlogs – watch this space and remind/encourage me. I took 2 creative evenings which I never thought I could do, travelled to the Faroe Islands with others from church and saw God do amazing things, along with several other adventures.

I’d like to think I invested in my friends more but that is something I want to pursue this year also. As you can see from the list there were several other things i.e photography and writing courses which didn’t happen, but I’m not worrying about what I didn’t do but focusing on what I did do.

What did you do last year that you hadn’t done before? It can be really hard to remember over a whole year, it can become a bit of a blur with the amount of things we have going on. Let me encourage you to take some time, make a cuppa, sit down and think over the last year. What did you do that made you feel proud? What did you do that you weren’t so crazy about? What change would you like to see this year? They don’t have to be huge things, we have to start somewhere. Maybe write a list of some thing or some change you want to see by this time next year and see what you can do to bring that about. Obviously there are some things in life that we can’t change such as other people and their choices but we can always choose how we act and react.

It really did me good to look back and I hope it helps you too.

As I said no matter how your new year started it doesn’t need to define the rest of the year. Focus on good things and possibilities for the year ahead.

I would really like to hear from you and how you’ve been including Christmas and new year and any plans you have for this year.

Sending you all much love

Kate x

January 10, 2017 by Kate

Life

Knowing Who You Really Are

Hey how are you?

I didn’t get round to posting last week as I was away with a wonderful friend, at her equally wonderful parents house in the Brecon Beacons. I was made to feel so so welcome and the views were simply stunning. I had such a lovely time.

As you can see the title is ‘knowing who you really are’ and is something I’m quite passionate about as it’s made such a difference to me.

For most of my life I looked for affirmation from other people. If I was told I had done a good job at work, that I was pretty or I was funny etc I felt good about myself. When I was told negative things like I was stupid, a drama queen or anything else negative I would feel bad about myself. It’s so much easier to believe negativity when you don’t understand how to focus on the positive and I started to really not like myself, in fact it would be more accurate to say I hated myself.

When you don’t know your own value it’s hard to believe that you have any value to others, which can then lead to destructive behaviour, I know because I have been there and it becomes a vicious circle. Now I know my experience may sound very intense but it’s the same principle whatever level your experience is or has been.

The first part of the journey is to start believing your worth just as you are. You are the only one of you and you are that way for a reason. You can do things that no one else can do. It’s easy to dismiss that truth, thinking ‘anyone can do that, it’s not a big deal’, but when you are operating out of who you truly are, it really is the easiest thing in the world. Like I’ve said before I had no belief whatsoever that I was creative, I honestly couldn’t see it because it came so naturally I thought everyone could do it, which made me think it was nothing special. It’s easier for others to see how good you are at certain things as most of us struggle with self doubt and self belief.

Something that has made a dramatic difference for me is the people I surround myself with. I used to allow all sorts of people into my life without thinking about if they were helpful or not. Since being aware of what a difference that makes, I am much more careful about who I ‘let in’. Positive and encouraging people create an environment that makes a safe place to grow in who you are and be able to make mistakes without fear. It also works the other way and helps us to encourage others and be more gracious. There will always be those around you who are negative but you can choose who and what to listen to, it’s not easy but with practice it gets a lot easier and the benefits to you as a person are so freeing.

Even seemingly small things such as when I had a haircut and felt good, if it wasn’t noticed and mentioned I would feel really hurt. Firstly, everyone is going through their own ‘stuff’ and so won’t always notice things even when it seems obvious to us and secondly some may notice and choose not to say anything for whatever reason. The point is we need to be secure enough in ourselves that we don’t need the approval of others to be happy. It is of course lovely to be complimented and encouraged but we need to be content enough in ourselves that it doesn’t make or break how we feel.

When I look back to my first marriage I can see that I was looking to my husband to make me happy. No one can make us happy unless we are first happy with ourselves. It isn’t anyone else’s responsibility or job. Relationships are hard enough when we go into them knowing who we are and not expecting the other person to complete us as it were.

When we take hold of our worth and value (and others), life becomes much easier and enjoyable. Constantly fighting for a place at the table or trying to prove yourself is incredibly exhausting and draining.

We all have a story of why we are the way we are but we also all have a choice in the way we deal with it. How we choose to cope with our hurts and fears is completely up to us, we can’t be helped unless we are willing to first make the choice to help ourselves . It took me a long time to realise this for myself but I am now happier, freer and more content than ever.

There has been a very powerful advertisement on the television lately about children that have been abused both mentally and physically and the captions to each child as they are dancing, playing the drums etc is that they are not the abuse that they have been subjected too. They will obviously have been affected and need help but the point is that they are not prepared to become the victim, but to choose life over the hideous abuse they have experienced.

Make a decision today to start being kind to yourself and see the difference it makes.

Let me know your thoughts.

Take care

Sending you lots of love

Kate x

November 5, 2016 by Kate

General, Life

Coffee and Creativity

Hey guys what’s new?

What a packed, full on and lovely week I have had and it’s only Friday morning!

Monday morning I went to Whistable with my friend, her beautiful little girl and Saffie dog. It was so lovely and we found a new place for the all important coffee (not actually new just refurbed and new to me). It’s called Hotel Continental, the staff were super friendly and the setting was very relaxing, I recommend a trip if your ever in the area. Oh and obviously one of the big pluses for me is that they allow dogs. I know that might put some of you off but its lovely and spacious so not really a problem.

Tuesday was brilliant as I finally got to go to the hospice for my induction. I already had a feeling it was going to be a wonderful place to be part of but after the induction, even more so. We had the director explain how hospices in this country first came about. The lady that started it all was Dame Cicely Saunders, she had a real desire to help people at the end of their lives to be looked after to the best of our ability and above and beyond. That is very much the ethos at The Heart of Kent.

My official start date is this coming Tuesday. I will be working in the Magnolia Centre which is where day patients come to spend time meeting up with each other, have a change of scenery and get involved with arts and crafts if they want or are able. I will be working with a team providing crafts and interacting with the patients. I would never have thought this would be something I could or want to do, but I really am excited. Even though it’s a hospice it feels so light and full of hope.

After such a great start to the week I then had my lovely Mama come to stay for a couple of nights. We shopped, we drank coffee, lots of, we chatted, we shopped and so on and so on. On Wednesday evening I hosted my second craft evening at Creative Hub which was Christmas themed. I blogged about the first one which you can read here. I’m really happy to say it went just as well as the first one. I still had the same doubts about whether or not people would be interested in what I was sharing, but they really were and I loved it. We did decoupage baubles, clay tags and hand sewn Christmas cards. I did a Decoupage Lantern and Baubles Tutorial last year. I haven’t produced a tutorial for the clay tags as yet but after Wednesday evening I’m glad as I have loads more ideas now. Like I said in my first creative hub blog the best thing about putting lots of people in the same room with the same materials means you will get all sorts of differentiating ideas and results which is so interesting and what it’s all about. Here is a snippet of some of the creations.

Tonight I am hosting an outdoor movie night. I know, I must be mad right and actually more to the point the people that have agreed to come must be even more so. It’s a mums and daughters event and everyone is bringing a camping chair and blankets and a mug. Myself and my friend, who is kindly helping me are providing fresh popcorn, we even have those cool little red and white stripe popcorn boxes. Small things make me happy. We are also doing hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows. The chimnea is going to be lit in some kind of attempt to provide some heat. I will take some pictures and share on Facebook and Instagram. The film we have chosen is ‘Mama Mia’ which I think is the perfect choice – it’s going to be a fab evening as long as no one ends up with frost bite.

What are your plans for the evening and the rest of the weekend?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Take care

Much love

Kate x

October 21, 2016 by Kate

General, Life, Saffie Dog

Photo Shoot At The Beach And Other Stuff

Hope you are all well and have had a great week so far.

This week I’ve had a few things going on pushing things in the right direction. I hope you all enjoyed last weeks blog about Sass Harding Photography, which if you missed you can read here. If you follow me on facebook or instagram you will know that Sass and myself, along with Saffie dog, took a trip to Whitstable for a photo shoot on Wednesday. We had such a lot of fun and were so blessed with the weather. The sun was out, the wind was blowing but although there was a bit of a nip in the air it was beautiful. In my mind that is perfect weather, especially for a walk along the beach. I will be sharing some of the photos with you once they have been edited. I’ve had a sneak preview and I’m really pleased with the way they have come out. I would highly recommend Sass if you are looking for a photographer for any occasion.

I did somehow manage to lose my phone along the way and had no idea where it could be as we had walked quite a way. I couldn’t believe it but I did feel really peaceful. As you can imagine, my first port of call was to pray. I just simply asked that I would be able to find it. After looking in a couple of places that I thought it could have been we decided to head back. When I got home, I looked on my ipad at the amazing app called ‘find my iphone’ which, if you have ever used you will also know how marvelous it is. For those of you who haven’t experienced the genius of this app I shall explain. The first thing you can do is reset the phone from your ipad to show a message on the front screen saying the phone has been lost and a number so that whoever finds the phone can call to let you know they have found it. It also locks the phone so that no on can see your personal information. I mean how cool is that? Even cooler though is that it shows you a map and the exact location of where your phone is. Long and short of it, myself and Madie drove back to Whitstable to the part of the beach the app was showing and low and behold, there it was! Now that is what I call an answered prayer. God does use technology to answer our prayers.

Also this week I had a meeting with another friend who has recently started her own business. I will be doing a blog on her and her new venture in the not too distant future, so more inspiration to follow.

I heard from the hospice who have said they now have all the information they need for me to be able to start there soon. It’s taken quite a long time to come together but we are nearly there. I’m expecting to hear from them in the early part of next week to confirm an induction date. I really can’t wait to start now.

Lastly, the kids group at church that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago started this week. We had about 30 children between the ages of 5 and 11. As you can imagine it was pretty full on, especially after they had all been in school all day and had tons of energy. It was as they say a ‘baptism of fire’! The upshot of it though was that the kids had a great time and learned more encouraging and good things about God. I felt a little out of my depth but I guess that’s what happens when you step out. The parents said the kids had a great time and myself and the lady that is heading up the group had a good debrief and have some new ideas on ways to make it even better. It’s exciting to be a part of something so very different to what i would normally do.

That’s what’s been happening in Kates shoes so tell me, what have you been doing?

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend whatever your plans. I’m off to a spa tomorrow to celebrate my lovely Mums birthday with my 3 sisters – lovely.

Take care and God bless

Kate x

October 7, 2016 by Kate

General, Kate Makes, Life

Exciting Things Ahead

Hello lovely people.

Just a quick post today to give you a bit of an insight into what is happening inkatesshoes.

There’s lots that has changed and lots that is about to change for me. I’ve been feeling so stuck in my usual day to day life that I have decided to really step up and out of my comfort zone.

Firstly I am now doing reception at our church in Eastgate every Friday which I am loving. The atmosphere is brilliant and I love all the interaction.

Secondly I have had an interview at a local hospice for a volunteer position. I have been offered the position and I’m just waiting for the references to come back. I will be working with the day patients in a creative capacity. Basically facilitating crafts for those who would like to take part at any level. The idea is to bring colour, positivity and joy to the patients. How exciting is that? It’s only a Tuesday but it is every week.

I am also helping to host a new kids programme at the church after school on a Tuesday. Tuesdays are obviously going to be one of my busiest days now. It is just for 6 weeks to start and if it’s successful we will do more in the future.

Lastly I’ve been asked if I would like to contribute some art to an art exhibition that is being held at Eastgate. When they first asked I thought “why are they asking me?” but once I had some time to think about it I felt pretty excited. I always fancy doing painting but never seem to put the time aside for it. Now that I have committed to it I will have to make the time. The theme is the beach, couldn’t be more perfect for me. We have been asked to do 3 small ish sized canvasses but it doesn’t have to be just paint, we can use any kind of mediums we want. I’m thinking I might use some of the driftwood that I have been collecting (hence the picture).

So that’s a bit about what I am and will be up to. I will be sharing about all of it as it unfolds.

What do you have planned? What would you like to do?

Have a wonderful weekend.

Much love

Kate x

September 23, 2016 by Kate

General, Life

Rollercoaster of a summer – quite literally at times

Welcome back friends. How was your summer? If any of you are like me you will be split between the disappointment of the kids being back at school and life going back to ‘normal’ and being desperate for some normality!

As ever the summer came and went far too quickly but we did make some great memories.

The holidays started with the kids going off with their Dad for 2 1/2 weeks! That my friends, was just too long for me. As most of you know I’ve been used to them going off with their Dad for longish periods of time since they were really little, but the longest I’ve done is 2 weeks and that’s plenty. The last few days were really pants.

The upside to it though was that Mr H and I got so much done to the house. We managed to cross off about half of the ‘to do’ list (and it was a huge list). Feeling much more organised now. Another bonus was having them home for a few days and then all jetting off for our holiday to Vegas!

Vegas – what can I say? Hot, mad, loud, colourful, exciting, relaxing and exhausting!

We stayed in a lovely hotel called the Vdara which I would highly recommend. One of the things we loved about it was that there was no casino there, but it was only a short walk to the strip and all the buzz and energy so we had the best of both worlds. The pool was stunning and the staff were brilliant.

Some of the highlights of the trip were

. Doing the zip wire on Freemont Street (although not the most savoury place to be with kids at that time of day)! We launched from much further back than you can see and went under all the lit up canopy. It was amazing.

. Going to Cowabunga water park (no photos as phones were in lockers)

. Meeting up with good friends and having Tepinyaki for the first time (all your food is cooked in front of you on the hot plate. Such good fun)

. Riding the New York New York roller coaster at night (I screamed, a lot) I wish I had photographic evidence of this but unfortunately not!

When I say the roller coaster was one of the highlights, what I actually mean is that my daughter made me go on it even though I really didn’t want to. I was so pleased that I had done it afterwards though.

The best part about the whole holiday for me though was us being together. No distractions from anything, just time spent together making memories. Priceless.

Getting back into ‘normal’ life has been really hard. Jet lag was horrible and made me feel ever so low. What have your experiences of jet lag been like? I’m very pleased to say that it has now passed.

How were the holidays for you? What lovely places have you been to and what have you been doing?

I’m feeling quite excited about what’s next, it’s the start of a new academic year which I find is a good time to reflect on where you are and what your doing. Kids have started afresh so it’s the perfect time for me to do the same. I have a couple of new things on the horizon that once I’m in the flow will be blogging about.

Whats new with you? Starting a new job, going back to college, plans to do life differently?

I really would love to hear all about your journeys, adventures and plans for the future. If you feel like your not very inspired by life or the future at the moment come and be inspired here and see what others are up to. I get so much of my inspiration from other people and sometimes life is simply about getting on with the season that we are in, it doesn’t mean that other peoples lives are more exciting or that ours is boring.

I always find being happy and excited for other people puts me in a better frame of mind which I’m not saying I always manage. A couple of weeks ago I could hardly see beyond the end of each day!

So, friends can I ask that if you have found this post interesting and or helpful in any way, that you would leave a comment. By sharing our own experiences and highs and lows we can be such an encouragement to others. It’s also great to hear about what other people are up to outside of our usual circles.

Cant wait to hear your comments and input.

Have a wonderful weekend

Much love

Kate x

September 9, 2016 by Kate

General, Life, My faith in God

Rainbows

Hello lovelies welcome to the weekend – yay!

Its always lovely to get to the weekend, but some weeks it’s so needed. My week has been an interesting one and honestly, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday felt like a real slog. There were a couple things that were getting me down and because I was on a low eb anyway, got to me even more.

If your new to the blog I have dealt with depression for a long time and have always been very open about it to try and help others. If you would like to read my post on depression you can find it here

So, this was a bit of a ‘blip’ exacerbated by the things that were bothering me. The first one being overwhelmed by the house and the amount of things that need doing. The second was that we had promised the kids a holiday this year as we haven’t taken them abroad for a very long time, in fact I’m not even sure if Mr H and I ever have and realising that we just didn’t have the money to do it.

As with a lot of peoples pressures both of these were money related, something I’m quite sure most of you can understand. When you are at home most of the time doing housework, cooking cleaning etc it’s hard to switch of from all those little (and not so little) jobs that need doing and it becomes very frustrating when you don’t have the money to do anything about it. Thursday morning I started to feel more ‘on top’ of things. One of the most frustrating things about depression is that you are not in control of how you feel, sure you can help yourself to a point by avoiding certain circumstances or spending time with people who lift you, but that is sometimes easier said than done.

Anyway because I had more space in my head by Thursday morning I could look at things with a more positive outlook. Mr H and I had written a list of all the jobs that needed doing in each part of the house, including the outside. I sat down with a coffee and a pen and started ticking the jobs that could be done with little to no money which worked out at about 2/3 which made me feel better straight away.

One of the biggest jobs was to clear my craft room. I have been putting this off for a long time as I found it very overwhelming, not surprising when you look at the before pic! Do you ever get in one of those moods when you are still in your pj’s and decide to crack on and get dressed later? It was much much later that I got dressed. I rolled up my sleeves, so to speak, and went for ‘operation tidy craft room’. It was so therapeutic, I was chucking out all sorts of things like glass jars, ribbons that I have had for years and patterned papers that I didn’t even like. I’m a bit of a hoarder when it comes to craft bits. By the time I finished I was buzzing, it felt so good.

Before and after pictures.

Apologies for the dreadful picture quality but you get the idea. There’s much more Id like to do to make it more cosy, but I am currently sitting in the new tidy space writing this and loving it! I have also done a fair few of the little jobs that I can and Mr H and myself are going to have a massive DIY weekend.

Now onto the second thing that was really bothering me, the lack of money to take the kids away. If you know me or have been following for a while you will know that I am a christian and I very much believe in the power of prayer and that God is good and wants to give his kids good stuff. I have been praying for at least 3 months for the finances to be able to go away as a family. Like I said the first three days of the week were tough and by wednesday night I was really low, but by Thursday morning something had shifted.

While I was happily tidying, Mr H came up to speak to me about a telephone conversation he had just had. Obviously I don’t want to divulge personal information, but through completely unforeseen circumstances we have ‘come into’ a bit of money, in fact just about enough money to take all 4 of us on a holiday this summer. I have been so excited. I know not everyone will believe that was God, but I am in no doubt what so ever that it was Him and I can’t thank Him enough!

The reason I chose the title rainbows is because they are Gods promise to us that He will never leave us, even when we don’t understand whats happening He is still faithful. I took this picture a week or so ago and it was so apt for this week. Needless to say I am in a much better frame of mind now than I was at the beginning of the week. Now it’s time to decide where we want to go on holiday and book it. Feel free to share some of your favourite holiday destinations.

I hope this has encouraged you in some way.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Much love

Kate x

July 1, 2016 by Kate

Life

Love Always Wins

Hey guys!

So the country has voted and we are now out of the European Union. I wanted to talk a little about what has happened. I am not talking about this from a political perspective but a social one.

Today was always going to be an interesting day whatever the outcome, but I am saddened by some of the reactions of people to others. I had made a decision quite early on as to how I was going to vote, towards the end I was unsure and continued weighing it all up in my mind. When push came to shove I stuck with my original decision. It was a decision that I made through my personal thoughts and beliefs. Was it the right decision? I don’t know and won’t know for some time, but it was my choice to make, just as it has been everyone else’s choice to make. The insults and slander that has been flying around Facebook today shows an issue that is far more worrying.

As individuals we have the right to our own opinions based on the world as we see and experience it. Why is it necessary to start hurling insults at each other? None of us knows the future ahead except for God, which is where I am putting my trust. I know that some of you reading this don’t have that kind of faith in God and that’s totally fine, but whatever our beliefs we must be able to accept our differences with grace and honour. That means to respect individuals choices without trying to change their opinion. I want my children to grow up being proud of who they are and strong in their beliefs (whatever they turn out to be) without feeling the need to put others down or disregard their beliefs.

Who is to say what is right and what is wrong? Just because some peoples voices are louder than others does not make them ‘more right’ – just louder. Being passionate about something you believe strongly in is a good thing in itself, but when that starts to intimidate and belittle others it will never be a good thing. Mr H was verbally abused on Facebook today because of his opinions by being called “an f…..g idiot” where is the democracy in that?

Having put forward the way I feel about the negativity going on I must also make a point of some of the lovely comments that I have seen on Facebook today, which is where I am going to focus my attention.

These are some of the ones that stood out for me

“The sun is shining and we have so much to be grateful for”

“Congratulations to all who voted for Brexit. Personally I’m disappointed with the result but the people have spoken and that’s what democracy is all about. I really hope that everything works out for the best for the UK but the only successful route is one based on love, not hate”

“I am proud to live in a country which gives it’s people a voice. I wanted to stay in the EU, but I respect the fact that more people voted that they wanted to leave. Let us now work together for the good of the people of the UK, Europe and the world.”

Im going to end on that positive note and wish you all a very good weekend, hoping this sun continues to shine.

Looking forward to hearing your comments.

Much love to you all

Kate x

June 24, 2016 by Kate

Life

Fun In The Faroes

A tad later than planned, but hey, nothing new there, hope you enjoy!

June 11, 2016 by Kate

Life

Faroe Islands

Hey everyone hope your all doing well.

I’m posting early this week as I’m off on a trip to the Faroe Islands this afternoon until next Tuesday. For those of you who don’t know where that is, (like me until recently), it’s a group of islands between Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is going to be quite chilly to say the least!

Why am I heading off to somewhere so cold? I am going with a fabulous group of people from our church on a mission trip. I would love to know what ‘mission trip’ conjures up in your minds. For me, I used to think of the archetypal missionary, as someone who was very poor and had to go on missions far far away for a very long time and it wasn’t any fun at all. Is that what you thought or similar? This trip is going to be so much fun!

The dictionaries definition is this

“A person sent by a church into an area to carry on evangelism or other activities such as educational or hospital”

In other words, we are going to share with the people in the Faroes what we have been learning about God and all the amazing things that He wants to do through us/them. One of the people leading the team is Paul who is half Faroese which is how this all came about. Last year 12 people went and this year there are 22 of us going. Apparently they were all so happy about what they learnt last year, that lots more people want to get in on it and the ones that were there, want to learn more.

I’m really excited to be a part of this trip. I will be taking lots of pictures and may even do a little vlog or Facebook video! I’ll be doing a blog on what happened out there next week, so watch this space, especially if your still a bit confused about what I’m talking about!

Wishing you all a fantastic bank holiday weekend and hoping the sun shines for you.

Much love

Kate x

May 26, 2016 by Kate

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