diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index 266d5f3..c58bff4 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 TARGET=http
 CC=gcc
 
-OBJ = main.o tcp.o http.o
+OBJ = main.o tcp.o http.o file.o
 
 $(TARGET): $(OBJ)
 	mkdir -p ../build
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ $(TARGET): $(OBJ)
 main.o: include/tcp.h
 tcp.o: include/tcp.h include/http.h
 http.o: include/http.h
+file.o: include/file.h
 
 .PHONY: clean
 clean:
diff --git a/src/file.c b/src/file.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1574153
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/file.c
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+#include "include/file.h"
+
+void get_file_from_uri(char** uri, char** buffer)
+{
+	char* tok;
+	FILE* f;
+	int err;
+	size_t bufsize, newlen;
+
+
+
+	// this is assuming absPath, NOT abs uri
+	//
+	// absURI is ONLY generate them in requests to proxies, otherwise
+	// will be an abs path
+
+	/**
+	 * TODO: if no file is specified, append index.html
+	 */
+	f = fopen(*uri, "r");
+	if (f == NULL) {
+		perror("fopen");
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
+
+	err = fseek(f, 0L, SEEK_END); // go to the end of the file
+	if (err != 0) {
+		perror("fseek");
+		fclose(f);
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
+
+	bufsize = ftell(f); // lets get the length of the file here
+	if (bufsize == -1) {
+		perror("ftell");
+		fclose(f);
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
+
+	(*buffer) = malloc(sizeof(char) * (bufsize + 1));
+	if (*buffer == NULL) {
+		perror("malloc");
+		fclose(f);
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
+
+	rewind(f); // go back to the beginning of the file
+	
+	newlen = fread(*buffer, sizeof(char), bufsize, f);
+	if (ferror(f) != 0) {
+		perror("fread");
+		fclose(f);
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	} else {
+		(*buffer)[newlen++] = '\0'; // this is just to be safe
+	}
+
+	fclose(f);
+}
diff --git a/src/http.c b/src/http.c
index bf1006d..253061b 100644
--- a/src/http.c
+++ b/src/http.c
@@ -132,6 +132,11 @@ const char* http_status_code_to_str(http_status_code_t code)
 	}
 }
 
+void free_http_request(http_request* request)
+{
+	free(request->request_line.request_uri);
+}
+
 void parse_request_line(char** line, http_request_line* request)
 {
 	char *tok, *ver, *num;
@@ -185,12 +190,13 @@ void parse_request_line(char** line, http_request_line* request)
 	request->version.minor = atoi(num);
 }
 
-void parse_http_request(char** buffer, http_request_line* request)
+void parse_http_request(char** buffer, http_request* request)
 {
 	// going to be using strtok here to split up the request
 
 	// first lets split each line
 	char* line; 
+	http_request_line r_line;
 
 	// parse the first line
 	line = strtok(*buffer, "\n");
@@ -199,7 +205,9 @@ void parse_http_request(char** buffer, http_request_line* request)
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
 
-	parse_request_line(&line, request);
+	parse_request_line(&line, &r_line);
+
+	request->request_line = r_line;
 
 	/**
 	 * TODO: start accepting the headers
diff --git a/src/include/file.h b/src/include/file.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..91e3957
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/include/file.h
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#ifndef FILE_H
+#define FILE_H
+
+void get_file_from_uri(char** uri, char** buffer);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/src/include/http.h b/src/include/http.h
index 063ecda..274d9af 100644
--- a/src/include/http.h
+++ b/src/include/http.h
@@ -49,15 +49,17 @@ typedef struct {
 } http_status_line;
 
 typedef struct {
-	struct http_request_line;
-	struct general_headers;
-	struct requests_headers;
+	http_request_line request_line;
+	struct general_headers general_headers;
+	struct request_headers request_headers;
 } http_request;
 
 typedef struct {
 	http_status_line status;
 	struct general_headers general;
 	struct response_headers response;
+	size_t message_len;
+	char* message_body;
 } http_response;
 
 
@@ -68,6 +70,6 @@ const char* http_status_code_to_str(http_status_code_t code);
 
 void parse_request_line(char** line, http_request_line* request);
 
-void parse_http_request(char** buffer, http_request_line* request);
+void parse_http_request(char** buffer, http_request* request);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 72762d9..829bda1 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -5,6 +5,20 @@
 
 #include "include/tcp.h"
 
+/**
+ * TODO:
+ *
+ * we need to parse the request headers and put them into a struct
+ *
+ * also need to implement the features the headers are requesting
+ *
+ * for now we're just using the request line and the status line for basic info
+ * but eventually i would like to start implementing headers
+ *
+ * file config for port, file location, etc
+ */
+
+
 int main(void)
 {
 	server_conn_t server;
diff --git a/src/tcp.c b/src/tcp.c
index 84ef4fa..1a53838 100644
--- a/src/tcp.c
+++ b/src/tcp.c
@@ -92,9 +92,11 @@ void* connection_handler(void* arg)
 {
 	int client_socket = *(int*) arg;
 	http_request request;
+	//http_request_line request;
 	char* buffer = NULL;
 	int err;
 
+	// recv message
 	err = recv_message(&buffer, client_socket);
 	if (err == -1) { // if we had a recv error lets throw away the result
 		free(buffer);
@@ -102,20 +104,24 @@ void* connection_handler(void* arg)
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	puts(buffer);
-
-	parse_http_request(&buffer, &request);
+	// puts(buffer);
 
 	/**
 	 * Handle HTTP request here :)
 	 */
 
-	// recv message
 
-	// parse
-	//
+	parse_http_request(&buffer, &request);
+
+	printf("%s %s %d.%d\n", http_method_to_str(request.request_line.method),
+			request.request_line.request_uri, request.request_line.version.major,
+			request.request_line.version.minor);
+
 	// create payload
-	//
+	
+	// get the file
+	
+
 	// send payload
 
 	free(buffer);