fake it until you make it? + a giveaway

Thursday, July 31, 2014

i've never been secretive about my drive to make this here blog quasi-successful.

i TOTALLY want it to make a few dollars every month for several reasons:

1. if it makes enough money i can totally hire someone to come clean my toilets and polish my floors.
2. i may even be able to start paying for my own pedicures.
3. but mostly...the very biggest reason...to prove my farmer wrong.

you see...my farmer doesn't understand normal dollars.

if i told him my blog made $1000 last month (which it totally did NOT), he would come back and tell me our power bill for the farm was $40,000 last month. 

literally - $40 grand. that's not a lie or a typo.

so you can see why he might turn his nose up at $1000...or even $3000. apparently he doesn't get out of bed for a piece of machinery that doesn't cost less than $100k.

let me be clear here, though - it's just downright expensive to run a farm. and while i'd love to say farmer and i are rolling in the green (hay + corn $$)...all that glorious crop cash gets plugged right back into the farm to pay things like power...and the fertilizer bill...and land payments. 

woe is me, right?

but i'm keeping things in perspective. if i were to pass a $10 bill on the ground...you bet i'd pick it up. shoot...i'd pick up a quarter...or a nickel. 

which is exactly why i enter/participate in most every giveaway that crosses my path here in blog world. one of these days, i just might win. then i'll rub my $130 all over my face in front of my farmer. no i won't. money is dirty. but i sure will brag about it.

which brings me full circle - fake it until you make it.

i'm totally going to continue to pretend like September FARM has thousands and thousands of readers...and like people totally care/are entertained by the bits i bring to the pages. 

and just maybe one day September FARM will get invited to the Kentucky Derby or a spa opening or...or...something extra rad.

in the meantime, i'll just continue to participate in killer giveaways that bring friends the chance to win cash...like the $130 mentioned above and below.

plus, just look at all those pretty blogging faces. 

The Girl who Loved to Write | Meg in Training | Believe in the Sparks | Rad Maverix

{the farmer's wife} | As the Wine Cork Turns

Classy Living | september FARM

Heaven with a Wild Side | The Crazy Wise Woman | The Butcher's Niche | Rose Gold & Ringlets

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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guest post | elena @ baby ridley bump

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

here are the facts friends...this gorgeous gal needs just about zero introduction. 

why? trust me...you'll catch on as soon as you start reading. but here is a bit of karli bell input...in case you were wondering - 

this gal you see below? i've never met her in person, but i wish i could. i'm nearly positive she's as beautiful on the inside as she is in her photos. (she also has a bikini shot of her and her man on vay-cay at the very bottom of this post and i my jaw hit the floor in envy of her ridiculous bod.)

hey elena - no more bikini pictures. not in my wildest dreams will i ever be able to attain that.

okay...enough about my jealous streak. read on to meet your new most favorite blogger. 

Hello September FARM readers, and happy hump day!  My name is Elena and I blog over at Baby Ridley Bump.  You may or may not have seen my blog floating around in the blogosphere, either way, hello! and welcome to my September FARM takeover!  I want to take a minute to thank my gracious host Karli.  Isn’t she like THE CUTEST pregnant person ever!  Her bump is just to die for! 

So, speaking of pregnancy, you may have noticed, and might assume because of the title of my blog that I blog about babies.  Well, that’s true, but the baby that I blog about is the baby that I’m now trying to conceive via IVF.  The original intent of my blog was to document our journey to get pregnant.  A journey we started right after we were married on 9/24/11.  I started the blog in May 2012 when I was laid up from a motorcycle accident.  I had found Little Baby Garvin while perusing Pinterest & she was my inspiration.  I thought it would be great to document my pregnancy and eventually our lives with a baby.

Well, here we are and more than 2 years have passed since I started the blog, and we are just shy of 3 years of TTC.  What the intent of my blog has now evolved into is advocacy, education, and sharing my story.  Did you know that 1 in 8 couples are infertile?  That is an astonishing number. The even more astounding thing is that infertility is rarely talked about.  It’s a serious disease suffered by both women and men. Because of this, the goal of my blog is to share every painful and personal detail about the battle that we are fighting so that we can raise awareness about infertility, the seriousness of the disease, and the highly successful treatments that are available.  

via Instagram

Unfortunately, a week ago today we found out that our first cycle of IVF failed.  We waited over 90 days to start the cycle.  We were told on April 11^th that our IUI (artificial insemination) would have to be cancelled because I had developed too many eggs.  This was the 2^nd IUI that was cancelled because of my response to the medication I was on to make these eggs.  We made the tough decision to move forward with IVF. I've only experienced pregnancy one time in my life and unfortunately, that ended in miscarriage.  You can read about that here in my most popular post to date.  The next step for us is called a Frozen Embryo Transfer or FET scheduled for September 4^th.  We were lucky enough to have 34 eggs retrieved, 21 fertilized, and 7 that made it to a 5-day cellular stage called blastocyst.  One of those seven has already been used and was not successful, but we still have 6 frosties left & are planning to keep fighting the fight.

Although this is the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with in my life, I try to stay positive and optimistic. Not all of my blog is about the trials and tribulations of TTC.  You'll also see a Friday Favorites post each and every week, lots of updates on our dream home that we are currently building, pictures of my adorable pug Frank, and glimpses into the life of a young couple who love life, love each other, and are trying hard to build a family.

I love camping, our Harley, tattoos, cooking, gardening, traveling, shopping, & so many other things that you will see throughout my blog!

Hope you all enjoyed this post, and if nothing else, maybe learned a little bit about the world of infertility.  I have to urge those who might be infertile and feel as though they are alone to reach out because there is a beautiful community of  us who are trying to conceive that can big a huge support system for those in need.  Thank you again for taking the time to read this!

engagement photos taken at our lot in 2011

and our lot today, finally started building our dream home

trash the dress session

camping trip on the bike

2013 Cruise to Bermuda

my family

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so can we talk about our gal elena for a hot second? 

1 | she's gorgeous

2 | she's a wonderful blogger with a great writing voice.

3 | is it just me...or do we all want to be friends with her? i mean...i literally felt like i could invite myself over to her home and chat it up for hours.

if you feel the same, there are plenty of avenues to get yourself some more baby ridley bump. get busy...

GFC | bloglovin' | instagram | pinterest | Facebook

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a bridal shower for a gal who never wanted a bridal shower

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

what? no bridal shower?

i know...asinine really. perfectly preposterous. 

which is exactly why my dear, sweet cathie and i took matters into our own hands and made this bride have her very own bridal shower.

see? she's totally bridal. 

another thing she is? a graphic designer...very artsy. 

this made me super nervous because girlfriend has an eye for the visual, she's not afraid of color, and i basically wanted to show her that a bridal shower could be fun...and we wouldn't even make her play games.

well, now that cathie and i are fully recovered from pulling this off, it's time to brag about the menu and decor we snazzied together.

true to form - i'll be tooting our horns. toot toot.

our bride, gina, is also gluten intolerant. (talk about a high-maintenance bride!) so, sweet cathie and i knew we wanted the menu to be completely enjoyable for her, since most get togethers she attends she has to go without or ask a lot of questions...or pack her own. i can imagine this is the pits.

the menu consisted of | veggies and fruits. shrimp, beef, and chicken skewers with a chilled dipping sauce. a bang up sweet potato salad...that i should post the recipe for so that all can enjoy. crackers and cheeses...and of course champagne and wine.

putting together a shower is a lot of work...mostly just the set-up and take-down.

so as soon as guests started arriving, the champagne was cracked and i enjoyed my sips...and what a tease it was. i really really wished i wasn't pregnant at this shower. not only could i not enjoy the soft cheeses, but the tiny glass of champagne from the cute stripy straw was just not cutting it. i wanted five.

alas, we all make decisions. and i made the decision to not only be pregnant for gina's wedding, but four other weddings farmer and i will be attending in the coming weeks. shoot me.

another fun component of the shower? this photo booth. 

what was once farmer and my trash became gina's photo booth treasure. i simply painted some stripes on this piece of wood, and then cathie and i scavenged our costume boxes for props. 

the banner? it says, "he put a ring on it." i wish it was readable.

it was a hit...figuratively and literally.

everyone left sufficiently fed, beveraged (not a word), and with a sweet souvenir of them and the bride to be. 

cathie and i are going to call it a win.

and while cathie and i are oh so happy gina let us bully her into having a shower...we're glad we don't have to do it again.

showers are a lot of work...and that photo booth backdrop was heavy.

 xoxox gina. i absolutely cannot WAIT for august 31!

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27 week stats | farm baby #2

Monday, July 28, 2014

this weekend was one of those weekends that was so productive and active it was exhausting. or maybe it was because i had the brilliant idea that this was the perfect time to potty train kaye.

spoiler - it's wasn't.

spoiler - we are no longer potty training.

spoiler - i failed.

saturday consisted of - me mowing our lawn for the very first time since i was in high school, a bike ride with my farmer and best gal, and we finished the night by taking the boat out for swimming and dinner. 

sunday consisted of - house cleaning, birthday cake making, i started painting kaye's big girl room, and a sunday dinner...which is huge considering i don't typically do a lot of meal-making.

now that i have it all typed out...it doesn't seem like a whole heap, at least not enough to constitute exhaustion, but...

i repeat - i'm exhausted. 

i guess we'll move right into...

27 WEEK STATS | farm gal #2

WEIGHT GAIN | here we are at 27 weeks, beyond huge tas, and a nine pound overall gain. (but this was before i ate half of a double-layer, nutella frosting cake.)

 

WORKOUTS | the workouts have been great. i got in a few runs this week and even managed to get in a five-miler...and i lived to tell about it. actually, it felt great and i consistently ran low 9 minute miles. i'll take it! 

if i can continue getting in two or three runs a week until 30 weeks...i call that a win. i'll also keep up the walking and biking. regardless of the activity, i always shoot for at least 45 minutes. it just makes a gal feel good.

CLOTHING | i'm nearly positive i wore some sort of spandex-y/yoga pants-y attire every day this week. lucky farmer, yes? 

but tomorrow...tomorrow is a big day. amy is turning 30 and her farmer is sending us on a spa/treat yourself day...shopping included. so maybe, just maybe, i'll snag myself a cute flowy top and really shock the hell out of my farmer.

GENDER | we're totally having a little gal...a carbon copy of kaye...i just know it.

also, in case you missed it, i posted some gender reveal cupcakes AND pictures a few weeks ago.

CRIES THIS WEEK | zero. i may have to take this section away because i'm pushing a month with no tears. this is UNHEARD of considering the amount of tears i was shedding just a month ago...and definitely a decrease from what i experienced when pregnant with kaye. 

i'm not letting my guard down though...and neither is my farmer. he's been on his very most sensitive, tender, loving behavior.

CRAVINGS | i fulfilled my sweet tooth today with some glorious nutella frosting. did you see amy's birthday cake i whipped up? that's nothing but powdered sugar, butter, and nutella. and trust me, there was extra frosting that easily found its way to my mouth...this is why i need to keep running.

PURCHASES | i went ahead with the ergo 360. i'm pretty jazzed about it and so is my farmer considering he despised the moby wrap we used with kaye. 

i'm also going to probably drop a few more dollars considering i have some discounts at pottery barn and 40% off my purchase at baby GAP...i currently have a very full shopping cart.

13 weeks to go, people. 13 weeks. 

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Saturday CONFESSIONAL | madeline @ p.s. my name is madeline

Saturday, July 26, 2014

for today's Saturday CONFESSIONAL i have to write a little intro.

it's just one of those posts you have GOT to read to the end so that you can get to the zinger. because it really is a zinger! (and i don't use the word zinger loosely.) i was totally shocked.

in the process, you'll probably find yourself totally relating to madeline (or maybe you won't, but i did because i was voted biggest brown-noser of my senior class).

so, read on...and read to the end. then click on over to madeline's blog. trust me...you'll want to do this.

saturday confessional with p.s. my name is madeline

Hello September FARM readers!! My name is Madeline, and I blog over at P.S. My Name Is Madeline. I blog about myself, my handsome husband, teaching fourth graders - mostly just the funny things they say, and my life in a small town. I'm all about celebrating myself and others, and I would love to get to know you and celebrate you too, so I'm happy to be here!

First confession: I am an innocent person.

Second confession: I'm not just saying that.

Don't leave just yet, though! I'm here to prove that being an innocent goody-two-shoes can also get you into trouble, and leave you guarding a secret for years to come.

Which brings me to high school. I know, high school? Really? But yes. High school. Let's move on.

me... in high school.

I was 15 years old, it was my sophomore year. Being the goody-goody I was, I was chilling in an Honors English class. This class was taught by Mrs. King. Mrs. King was an older lady, with a reputation for being a bit harsh. Her class was difficult, and she was in no mood to baby you. At first, I hated her along with my classmates. She expected too much! She didn't care about our excuses! She stamped our hands with pictures of sloths when we didn't turn in our homework! She put the best students school pictures on The Bus. The Bus was one of those elementary school posters with an illustrated picture of a bus, with kids hanging out of it. Now, contrary to popular belief, and just to put any similar thoughts you have to rest, I was never on the bus. I tried not to let it bother me. It was one of those high school feelings you get where it's like, "I want to be on the bus, because I want to do good and feel smart." And also, "I don't want to be on the bus because everyone already thinks I'm a goody-goody and I want them to know I'm not just a brain."

So, like I said, I hated her at first. After a while though, she grew on me. She was kind of cool! She told this story about how when she was first married, she was at a dinner party and everyone was talking about politics including her. After the party she realized that the whole time, she had only been saying her husband's opinions and she didn't have any original thoughts! So she went back to school and travelled the world, and got her own opinions. I thought that was amazing. I still think it's amazing. So, she grew on me.

One day, I walked into class to a solemn assembly. All eyes were on Mrs. King, and all voices were quiet. She waited until the bell rang, and then began telling us in a shaking voice that The Bus had been stolen. She was devastated. She started crying and begging for the perpetrator to give the bus back! The whole class stared at her, some trying not to laugh... and then there was me, also getting tears in my eyes because... goody-goody... and also, too much empathy for my own good.

I could not believe that someone could be so mean to an old lady. I mean, seriously? I went home and told my mom all about it, because that's what you do in high school. And then the next day, I had this computer tech class. I sat down and began my typing practice, when suddenly the boy next to me was talking to the boy in front of him. About the bus. About who stole the bus. "Did you hear that Alex Casey stole Mrs. King's bus?"

BOOM. HEART RACING. PALMS SWEATING.

I knew who stole the bus.

I was in a state about what I should do. I mean, I should obviously tell Mrs. King! (goody-goody!!!!) But if anyone found out that I told her, I would be socially doomed for the rest of high school! (Try hard!!!) But Mrs. King was crying!! (empathy!!!) In the end, Mrs. King's tears won out.

I told her Alex Casey stole the bus in a private conversation. Alex Casey got kicked out of Honors English for the rest of high school. I never told anyone except my best friend Jill what I had done. Alex Casey and I had Honors Chemistry the next year together, and I ignored him like my life depended on it.

And somehow... 8 years later, Alex Casey and I ended up married.

Find out how I ended up marrying Alex Casey over at p.s. my name is madeline!!

(Additionally, you can read our elongated love story here.)

he doesn't look like a criminal... ;)

________________________________________

seriously...let's all head over to madeline's blog to read the rest! i mean...she got him kicked out of honors english! (as a former honors english/goody-goody...i'm having a hard time comprehending!)

also, don't be shy...you can get more of madeline here - 

bloglovin' | instagram | pinterest | twitter

ps. if you're interested in writing your own Saturday Confessional for September FARM, check out the ad spot on my advertise page!

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oh hey friday | 5 goodies for turtle 2.0

Friday, July 25, 2014

here's the deal gals. we had 177 wonderful oh hey, friday! posts link up last week! it was ridiculously awesome to pop around and read your fives. loved it.

and because i'm a goal-setter by nature, and because the link up has grown each week, we're really hoping to get more fabulous ladies linked up this week. so don't forget to promote your posts!

if you're new to these parts...here's how oh hey, friday! goes down - 

1 | write up a little post about five things. anythings. five hot men. five pinterest outfits. five treadmill workouts. five of your favorite recipes...literally anything you want. 

2 | head back over here and enter your link at the bottom of this post.

3 | link back to our blogs and add the oh hey, friday! button (found just below) to your post so that others can link up as well! that's it. so get busy.

<a border="0" href="http://farmerbell.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c151/karlib83/ohheyfridaybebas_zps27b8c812.png"/></a>
5 SWOON-WORTHY GOODIES FOR MY GAL

i'm a total sucker when it comes to shopping for kaye. i want her to have it all. i want it to be the cutest. i want it to be the best.

so now that i'm having girl #2 this feeling is totally amplified by a million.

this is SO obviously a huge issue for my farmer...but farmer has to learn.

1 gal + 1 gal + 1 mama TOTALLY trumps 1 farmer.

this is my farmer's fate. roll with it, farmer. roll with it.

1 | for startes...my next gal definitely needs this zipper onesie with matching hat from baby gap. i'm confident our farmer won't have issue because he's quite the bike rider himself. as in...on vacation he went on a 50 miler. that's on a road bike folks...no motor.

source

2 | as i explained yesterday, we didn't find out kaye was a girl until the delivery room. as much fun as that was, i had to decorate her nursery completely gender neutral. our poor gal has been stuck with navy stripes and animals on her wall for nearly two years. 

well, since we know T 2.0 is a girl...i'd absolutely love to change a few things out. for starters, i have my eyeball on these two chandeliers from pottery barn. they are perfectly classy and perfectly girly. 

source

3 | remember those animal prints that are on kaye's wall? while they are super cute, they scream boy. i'm totally ready to change them out for some pinks and corals. (and while i'm not totally in love with that chicken print...i thought it was funny. i found these goodies in minted's art section.

source

4 | i think it's pretty obvious that with the cold months of idaho quickly approaching (okay...that's like five months from now) both of my gals are going to need some classic uggs. it's a completely practical/logical purchase for a newborn. (plus, i have a pair myself. now we can all be matchy.)

source

5 | and naturally, i'm still swooning over every glider and rocker i come across. my latest is an anthro find. isn't it perfectly natural, perfectly classy, and wouldn't it look great in more than just a nursery? totally transitional.

source

downfall - it's $1700. not in my wildest dreams.

let's do this then - get linked up below and promote your post!

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kaye + her big girl room | post #1

Thursday, July 24, 2014

months and months...and months ago - probably like four months ago, i contacted natasha over at schue love (because everyone reads schue love...and if you don't, you should).

girlfriend has quite the knack for whipping together room inspiration for the...how do we say...people like me. i basically begged her for help on what direction i should take for a new "big girl" room for kaye. it is a daunting task i still don't want to think about.

seriously, i'm terrible at it. my poor kaye's nursery has some navy stripes on the wall and a flower vase...that's it. granted, i didn't know if she was going to be a boy or a girl. but you would have thought that after she arrived i would have thrown in some coral accessories and called it a day. nope, instead i did nothing and tried to keep my head above water as i navigated a newborn and nursing. this is not easy stuff, people.

well, now that turtle 2.0 is on her way (HER!!), we're moving kaye downstairs to a new room, and turtle 2.0 will move into kaye's nursery. so, i have two rooms i need to girl-ify...and as mentioned before, natasha helped me out with kaye's.

if you follow me on pinterest, you may have seen a few of the pictures i pinned ages ago to help motivate me for kaye's bedroom. well, i have yet to start...but here is the direction i was headed.

i have already purchased this quilt, so it'll definitely be making an appearance. 

i swoon for these built-ins, so maybe when our girls share a room, this can happen.

this bed has been purchased via pottery barn kids.

even though kaye has a chalkboard wall, i think i'm going to make this happen anyway.

these are also the same pictures i sent natasha, begging her to put together an inspiration board so i wouldn't blindly stumble along as i tried to piecemeal a room for my kaye.

well, natasha helped a gal out, and i couldn't be more pleased. girlfriend has an eye for design and i'm going to need her to regroup and help out my master bedroom...which has yet to see a single design element. seriously, zero pictures. the most i've done is change our duvet seasonally.

is't it the cutest, and the sweetest...and basically just perfect for my turtle? it is certainly a room that could grow with her, and i'm all about that.

thank you so so much to natasha for helping me out. now i need to start purchasing the accessories!

and a HUGE congrats to natasha as well. girlfriend is expecting baby #2. love it!

ps. DON'T FORGET TO LINK UP FOR oh hey, friday TOMORROW!! prepare your post!

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26 week stats | farm baby #2

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

because i'm officially into my 26th week of pregnancy, that means i'm practically in my third trimester, which then means this little muffin of a gal is practically here.

right? 14 weeks should zoom by.

i know that's laughable, but i'm trying to think positively here.

last night i had the most insane dream that i was actually acting as a surrogate. but in my dream, i knew that my farmer and i wanted a second baby right away, so i was already planning on getting pregnant AGAIN as soon as humanly possible.

folks...i'm here to say...a third is not in my future. my farmer is just going to have to be content with his two gals. (and his hands are going to be totally full.)

so...the crazy dream i'm blaming on this glorious mountain air. if you remember, we escaped to my favorite little town in idaho, called mccall. while everyone else is sweating it out in the valley, we've been enjoying lake time, bike rides, and milkshakes...not too shabby.

it's been so ridiculously awesome to get away...i'm so sad it's coming to an end tomorrow.

regardless...

26 WEEK STATS | farm gal #2

WEIGHT GAIN | at 26 weeks i'm popping along at a nine pound weight gain. not too shabby. my belly is getting bigger by the minute, so it seems...and the gals up top have really taken off. so...i guess this pregnancy thing is really happening. i was in denial there for a few months. kidding...kidding.

 

WORKOUTS | what with being on vay-cay for the past few days and all...i've only managed one run and a little bike ride...but those count, right? oh! and on friday and saturday i spent the better part of each day running around like a crazy woman setting up chairs and tables for a bridal shower and then breaking it all down. those definitely count as workouts. 

CLOTHING | i should really get it together...but i just love my lulu lemon yoga pants so so much. i'm wearing them now, in fact. their running shorts fit the bill as well. they have this glorious wide band at the top that don't cut in and they also stretch...a lot apparently. well, i'm in love. i'm definitely ordering an additional pair of each soon.

GENDER | in case you missed it...we're having another farm gal! 

according to the poll up top, if you voted, you certainly thought my farmer was going to get a mini-farmer. well...it' just isn't so! we'll be welcoming another little girl in late october!

also, in case you missed it, i posted some gender reveal cupcakes AND pictures.

CRIES THIS WEEK | zero. zero cries this week AND zero cries last week. this is so uncharacteristic of me. 

granted...i did get so overwhelmed with the bridal shower i was co-hosting AND trying to get packed up for our vacation that were both happening on the same day that i nearly cried...but i didn't. 

maybe this means that gal #2 won't be as emotional as our little kaye? maybe? one can hope.

CRAVINGS | at the shower this weekend there was champagne and soft cheese all over the place. while i did sip on a little champagne, i stayed away from the soft cheeses that were so so tempting. goat and brie would have been absolutely divine to nibble on, but i've been given the tsk tsk. so...the champagne sufficed and i enjoyed every last sip.

PURCHASES | zero purchases thus far. i'm EAGERLY awaiting gaps fall baby line to appear so i can see if i can't purchase some matchy-ish outfits for turtle and turtle 2.0.

i also need to buy an additional sound machine and have yet to buy a new baby carrier. i think we're going to go with the ergo 360. 

thank you gals again for all your input on needs and wants for baby #2. if you have any additional suggestions on anything you wished or did get for baby #2, send them my way! i'm all ears!

REMINDER | this has nothing to do with a baby, but as a little reminder, we have the oh hey, friday! link-up happening this friday AGAIN! it's turned into quite the successful little get together with over 170 of you gals getting your link on, and we love it! if you're new and wondering what i'm talking about...click here.

another reminder...july's group giveaway is happening! click here to read an inappropriate story AND get entered to win $235 cash!

happy tuesday!

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