createad microposts model using rails generate model content:string user_id:integer so it had two attributes.  within the migration, added an index to the database using add_index :microposts, [:user_id, :created_at] and also created the table which is doen automatically with the create_table command.  the rspec and rspec factories files were auto generated
added two tests for the micropost model.  simply checking to see if it responds to it's two attributes :content and :user_id.  using rspec with the factories gem, it creates a factory to make micropost objects, which is cool.  Set a user to FactoryGirl.create(;user) and then used this user id in the micropost that was created with Micropost.new as the user id attribute in the micropost.  Then, using rspec command subject { @micropost } used it {should respont_to(:content) }   /n  it { should respond_to(user_id) } to make sure that it responded to it's attributes.
added a valides :user_id, presence: true command to the Micropost model.  In the tests for microposts checked to see that a nil Micropost object (nil in the user_id field) was invalid).
added tests to ensure that the user_id attribute of the micropost model was not settable, meaning that it was always associated with some user that was made to create it and could not simply be set to any user - like what happens when twitter gets hacked :).  also introduced the concept of one model being like a child of another, where the micropost model actually becomes a part of the user commands, micropost.user returns the user object; user.microposts returns an array of the users microposts; user.microposts.create(arg) creates a micropots - notice its not micropost.new but rather user.microposts.create(arg); user.microposts.create[bang](arg) using an exclamation to catch failutres and user.microposts.build(arg) to return a new mnicrpost object, i guess if they had multiple microposts per user.
removed the user_id attribute from the attributes accessible command in the microposts model, added testing to check if the micropost responded to the user command since it will be associated, checked the :user of a microposts, its(:user) { should == user} to ensure the right user is associated, and then in the user model made sure its responded to the micropost command with it { should respond_to(:microposts) }
added the has_many :microposts to the User model and the belongs_to :user to the Micropost model.  Also corrected some typos in the specs for the micropost and model
ok, when I associated the micropost model with the user model it made the user.microposts.build command, notice the S on the end of micropost?  well, its important b/c my tests were failing until I changed it over to the correct pluralization :).
added a factory to the spec directory to create microposts.  Associated it with the user simply by includign a user attribute in teh factory.
created a test for micropost associations using a describe block micropost assocation, a before statement for before {@user.save} and the letBANG method to create two microposts, adn older and a newer one.  Then called the @user.microposts to get the array list to check if it is equal to the array of microposts in reverse order of posting
had to comment out the auto generated factories file because it created a duplicate microposts factory.  not sure why this came up in the rails tutorial.  prolly my gem file doesn't match up exactly and factory girl had some sort of gem update.
corrected a bug in the edit page that had the link for changing the gravatar labelled incorrectly in the test.  tests are so cool...  Ensured that microposts were destroyed when their associated user was also destroyed by adding a dependent: :destroy option to the has_many association method in the user model
added another validates clause to the micropost model to ensure that the :content attribute presence: true with a { maximum: 140 } character length.  added the associated tests which was a describe block that before tested { @micropost.content = BLANK STRING } and before { @micropost.content = a * 141 } so that it was too long
added a div to the user show - their profile essentially - page.  in this div rendered the microposts using the render @microposts.  at this point not sure how this was auto associated with the user.  Added in test framework to see that the profile page displays the content of the posts associated with that user and also that it displays the count of posts
had trouble with the tests for microposts, could not figure out why it wouldn't work, hoping that it is a problem with testing framework and not code, so going forward with code.  If code breaks, then I'll know..
so I found the bug.  lol.  a whole 1.5 hours wasted because i misspelled micropost - micrpost.  stupid p looks like an op.... wow
added routes for microposts.  Only using the create and destroy options.  to create you post at /microposts, to delete you destroy at /microposts/[id of micropost]
removed the signed in user methed from users controller to sessionshelper so that it is available to all the controllers.  then called this in the micropost controller, which i created, to filter and make sure only signed in users can create and destroy posts.  then created a micropost pages spec which crets a user, signs them in, and then tries to submit a micropost at the root path with invalid and valid information.  with invalid information it should then display an error message.  with valid information, the micropost count should change by 1.
implemented teh create method to get the current user and build a micropost passing in the params[:micropost] to the .build method on the current_user.microposts object - it assigns this to a variable, and if it can save it, it flashe's success and redirects to teh root_url.  otehrwise, it goes to static_pages/home.
added an if else clause to the home page using <% if signed_in? %> to see if they were signed in.  If they are signed in, then render pages from the shared directory, which I'm assuming we'll move shortly from the profile pages in a cool little refactoring.  Otherwise, display the home page as normal
created a _user_info.html.erb partial that grabs the gravatar for the current user, their name, a link to their profile, and a pluralize that I'm not quite sure what it will do