diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index e8fa2abef..3fcda913b 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ group :test do
   gem 'webrat'
   gem 'redgreen'
   gem 'autotest'
+  gem 'factory_girl_rails'
 end
 
 group :development do
diff --git a/app/models/status_message.rb b/app/models/status_message.rb
index c0b27d87c..989024dc1 100644
--- a/app/models/status_message.rb
+++ b/app/models/status_message.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ class StatusMessage
   xml_accessor :message
   xml_accessor :owner
 
-  
+   
   field :message
   field :owner
   
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ class StatusMessage
   before_create :add_owner
   
     def self.newest(owner_email)
+  
     StatusMessage.last(:conditions => {:owner => owner_email})
   end
   
diff --git a/spec/factories.rb b/spec/factories.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ca8c54483
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/factories.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#For Guidance
+#http://github.com/thoughtbot/factory_girl
+#http://railscasts.com/episodes/158-factories-not-fixtures
+Factory.define :friend do |f|
+  f.username 'max'
+  f.url  'http://max.com/'
+end
+
+Factory.define :status_message do |m|
+  m.sequence(:message) {|n| "jimmy's #{n} whales"}
+
+end
+
+Factory.define :user do |u|
+  u.sequence(:email) {|n| "bob#{n}@aol.com"}
+  u.password "bluepin7"
+end
diff --git a/spec/models/friend_spec.rb b/spec/models/friend_spec.rb
index 1a6345435..b76371aaa 100644
--- a/spec/models/friend_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/friend_spec.rb
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../spec_helper'
 
 describe Friend do
-  it 'should have a diaspora username and diaspora url' do
-    n = Friend.new(:username => 'max')
+  it 'should have a diaspora username and diaspora url' do 
+    n = Factory.build(:friend, :url => nil)
+    #n = Friend.new(:username => 'max')
     n.valid?.should be false
     n.url = "http://max.com/"
     n.valid?.should be true
   end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end
diff --git a/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb b/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb
index d20cb6188..f2f293cd9 100644
--- a/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb
@@ -1,38 +1,34 @@
 require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../spec_helper'
 
 describe StatusMessage do
+  before do
+      @usr = Factory.create(:user,:email => "bob@aol.com", :password => "diggity")
+  end
   it "should have a message" do    
-    n = StatusMessage.new
+    n = Factory.build(:status_message, :message => nil)
     n.valid?.should be false
     n.message = "wales"
     n.valid?.should be true
   end
   
   it "should add an owner if none is present" do
-    User.create(:email => "bob@aol.com", :password => "big bux")
-    n = StatusMessage.create(:message => "puppies!")
+    n = Factory.create(:status_message)    
     n.owner.should == "bob@aol.com"
   end
-  
-  
+   
   describe "newest" do
     before do
-      User.create(:email => "bob@aol.com", :password => "diggity")
-      StatusMessage.create(:message => "wale for jimmy", :owner => "xzibit@dawgz.com")
-      StatusMessage.create(:message => "jimmy wales")
-      StatusMessage.create(:message => "jimmy your wales", :owner => "some@dudes.com")  
-      StatusMessage.create(:message => "lions", :owner => "xzibit@dawgz.com")
-      StatusMessage.create(:message => "bears")
-      StatusMessage.create(:message => "sharks", :owner => "some@dudes.com")
-      StatusMessage.create(:message => "roar")
+      (1..5).each {  Factory.create(:status_message, :owner => "some@dudes.com") }
+      (6..10).each {  Factory.create(:status_message) }
     end
-  
+    
     it "should give the most recent message from owner" do
-      StatusMessage.my_newest.message.should == "roar"
+      #puts StatusMessage.newest("sam@cool.com")
+      StatusMessage.my_newest.message.should == "jimmy's 11 whales"
     end
     
     it "should give the most recent message for a given email" do
-      StatusMessage.newest("some@dudes.com").message.should == "sharks"
+      StatusMessage.newest("some@dudes.com").message.should == "jimmy's 16 whales"
     end
   end
   
@@ -42,7 +38,7 @@ describe StatusMessage do
     end
       
     it 'should serialize to XML' do
-      message = StatusMessage.create(:message => "I hate WALRUSES!", :owner => "Bob")
+      message = Factory.create(:status_message, :message => "I hate WALRUSES!", :owner => "Bob")
       message.to_xml.to_s.should == @xml
     end
   
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 3a28cedfd..dbfcae118 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 ENV["RAILS_ENV"] ||= 'test'
 require File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/../config/environment" unless defined?(Rails)
 require 'rspec/rails'
+#require File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/factories"
 include Devise::TestHelpers
 
 # Requires supporting files with custom matchers and macros, etc,