diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 68d775a..f19925e 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -12,10 +12,8 @@ COPY go.mod go.sum ./
 # Download dependencies
 RUN go mod download
 
-COPY ./*.go .
+COPY main.go .
 COPY internal ./internal
-COPY pages ./pages
-
 
 # Enable CGO for go-sqlite3
 ENV CGO_ENABLED=1
@@ -28,6 +26,7 @@ WORKDIR /app
 
 COPY --from=builder /app/main .
 COPY keys ./keys
+COPY pages ./pages
 
 EXPOSE 8080
 
diff --git a/counter.go b/counter.go
index 057c12a..fa432c3 100644
--- a/counter.go
+++ b/counter.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
-	"errors"
 	"log/slog"
 	"os"
 	"sync"
@@ -19,13 +18,7 @@ type RequestCounter struct {
 }
 
 // NewRequestCounter creates a new request counter with periodic snapshots
-func NewRequestCounter(snapshotInterval time.Duration) (*RequestCounter, error) {
-	snapshotPath := os.Getenv("REQUEST_COUNTS_PATH")
-	if snapshotPath == "" {
-		err := errors.New("REQUEST_COUNTS_PATH environment variable must be set and non-empty")
-		slog.Error("failed to initialize request counter", "error", err)
-		os.Exit(1)
-	}
+func NewRequestCounter(snapshotPath string, snapshotInterval time.Duration) (*RequestCounter, error) {
 	c := &RequestCounter{
 		counts:       make(map[string]int64),
 		snapshotPath: snapshotPath,
diff --git a/internal/gemlog/gemlog.go b/internal/gemlog/gemlog.go
index f4332c7..876fdf3 100644
--- a/internal/gemlog/gemlog.go
+++ b/internal/gemlog/gemlog.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package gemlog
 
 import (
-	_ "embed"
 	"fmt"
 	"log/slog"
 	"os"
@@ -52,14 +51,16 @@ func (g *Gemlog) HandleRequest(w gemini.ResponseWriter, req *gemini.Request) {
 	}
 }
 
-//go:embed gemlog.gmi
-var pageContnet string
-
 func (g *Gemlog) serveIndex(w gemini.ResponseWriter, req *gemini.Request) {
 	w.WriteStatusMsg(gemini.StatusSuccess, "text/gemini")
 
 	var content strings.Builder
-	content.Write([]byte(pageContnet))
+	page, err := os.ReadFile("./pages/gemlog.gmi")
+	if err != nil {
+		slog.Error("Problem reading gemlog page", "error", err)
+		return
+	}
+	content.Write(page)
 	content.WriteString("\n")
 
 	posts, err := gemlog.ListGemLogs(g.config)
diff --git a/internal/guestbook/guestbook.go b/internal/guestbook/guestbook.go
index 786f89c..79448c7 100644
--- a/internal/guestbook/guestbook.go
+++ b/internal/guestbook/guestbook.go
@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@ import (
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"crypto/x509"
 	"database/sql"
-	_ "embed"
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"fmt"
 	"log/slog"
+	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -215,13 +215,15 @@ func censorString(s string) string {
 	return string(masked)
 }
 
-//go:embed guestbook.gmi
-var pageContnet string
-
 func (book *GuestBook) serveIndex(w gemini.ResponseWriter, req *gemini.Request) {
 	w.WriteStatusMsg(gemini.StatusSuccess, "text/gemini")
 	var content strings.Builder
-	content.Write([]byte(pageContnet))
+	page, err := os.ReadFile("./pages/guestbook.gmi")
+	if err != nil {
+		slog.Error("Problem reading guestbook.gmi", "error", err)
+		return
+	}
+	content.Write(page)
 	content.WriteString("\n")
 
 	rows, err := book.db.Query("SELECT id, name, approved, created_at, message FROM guestbook ORDER BY created_at DESC")
diff --git a/internal/microblog/microblog.go b/internal/microblog/microblog.go
index b306515..7229613 100644
--- a/internal/microblog/microblog.go
+++ b/internal/microblog/microblog.go
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 package microblog
 
 import (
-	_ "embed"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"gemini_site/internal/pocketbase"
 	"log/slog"
+	"os"
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
@@ -216,9 +216,6 @@ func drawPost(builder *strings.Builder, p post) {
 	// p.Timestamp.Format("2006-01-02 15:04")))
 }
 
-//go:embed microblog.gmi
-var pageContnet string
-
 // serveBlogIndex serves the main blog page with recent posts
 func (mb *MicroBlog) serveIndex(w gemini.ResponseWriter, req *gemini.Request, pageNum int) {
 	w.WriteStatusMsg(gemini.StatusSuccess, "text/gemini")
@@ -228,7 +225,12 @@ func (mb *MicroBlog) serveIndex(w gemini.ResponseWriter, req *gemini.Request, pa
 	// content.WriteString("Here are my microblog posts from various plantforms\n")
 	// Read and include the contents of ../../pages/microblog.gmi
 	if pageNum == 1 {
-		content.Write([]byte(pageContnet))
+		page, err := os.ReadFile("./pages/microblog.gmi")
+		if err != nil {
+			slog.Error("Problem reading microblog page", "error", err)
+			return
+		}
+		content.Write(page)
 		content.WriteString("\n")
 	}
 
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index c11bff1..5dad5fc 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"database/sql"
-	_ "embed"
-	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"log/slog"
@@ -23,9 +21,6 @@ import (
 	gemini "github.com/kulak/gemini"
 )
 
-//go:embed home.gmi
-var homePageContent string
-
 type MainHandler struct {
 	blog      microblog.Handler
 	gemlog    gemlog.Handler
@@ -63,8 +58,11 @@ func (h MainHandler) ServeGemini(w gemini.ResponseWriter, req *gemini.Request) {
 	switch req.URL.Path {
 	case "/":
 		w.WriteStatusMsg(gemini.StatusSuccess, "text/gemini")
+		data, err := os.ReadFile("pages/home.gmi")
+		requireNoError(err)
+		page := string(data)
 		var content strings.Builder
-		content.WriteString(homePageContent)
+		content.WriteString(page)
 		content.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\n\n------ stats: total requests served %d, this page %d ------", h.counter.GetTotal(), h.counter.Get(req.URL.Path)))
 		w.WriteBody([]byte(content.String()))
 	// case "/user":
@@ -143,13 +141,7 @@ func main() {
 	flag.Parse()
 
 	// Initialize request counter with 30-second snapshot interval
-	requestCountsPath := os.Getenv("REQUEST_COUNTS_PATH")
-	if requestCountsPath == "" {
-		err = errors.New("REQUEST_COUNTS_PATH environment variable must be set and non-empty")
-		slog.Error("failed to initialize request counter", "error", err)
-		os.Exit(1)
-	}
-	counter, err := NewRequestCounter(30 * time.Second)
+	counter, err := NewRequestCounter("request_counts.json", 30*time.Second)
 	if err != nil {
 		slog.Error("failed to initialize request counter", "error", err)
 		os.Exit(1)
diff --git a/internal/gemlog/gemlog.gmi b/pages/gemlog.gmi
similarity index 100%
rename from internal/gemlog/gemlog.gmi
rename to pages/gemlog.gmi
diff --git a/internal/guestbook/guestbook.gmi b/pages/guestbook.gmi
similarity index 100%
rename from internal/guestbook/guestbook.gmi
rename to pages/guestbook.gmi
diff --git a/home.gmi b/pages/home.gmi
similarity index 100%
rename from home.gmi
rename to pages/home.gmi
diff --git a/internal/microblog/microblog.gmi b/pages/microblog.gmi
similarity index 100%
rename from internal/microblog/microblog.gmi
rename to pages/microblog.gmi
diff --git a/tasks.txt b/tasks.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 2f80d77..0000000
--- a/tasks.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-task: add hexidecimal numbering to gemlog
-
------------DONE LINE-----------
-
-DONE    task: add request counter