diff --git a/project.clj b/project.clj
index a8e1e59..98d7091 100644
--- a/project.clj
+++ b/project.clj
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@
                  [com.ashafa/clutch "0.4.0-RC1"]
                  [slugger "1.0.1"]
                  [clj-time "0.5.0"]
-                 [org.clojure/math.numeric-tower "0.0.2"]]
+                 [org.clojure/math.numeric-tower "0.0.2"]
+                 [cheshire "5.1.2"]]
   :plugins [[lein-ring "0.8.5"]]
   :ring {:handler blarg.handler/war-handler
          :init    blarg.handler/init
diff --git a/src/blarg/config.clj b/src/blarg/config.clj
index 3bb11c5..821dc45 100644
--- a/src/blarg/config.clj
+++ b/src/blarg/config.clj
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 (ns blarg.config
+  (:use [blarg.util])
   (:require [clojure.java.io :as io])
   (:import [java.io PushbackReader]))
 
 (def site-config (atom nil))
 
 (defn load-config []
-  (with-open [r (PushbackReader. (io/reader (io/resource "site.config")))]
-    (read r)))
+  (load-clj "site.config"))
 
 (defn get-config
   "returns the entire site configuration"
diff --git a/src/blarg/util.clj b/src/blarg/util.clj
index 5f8ebbb..93751b8 100644
--- a/src/blarg/util.clj
+++ b/src/blarg/util.clj
@@ -1,12 +1,27 @@
 (ns blarg.util
-  (:require [noir.io :as io]
-            [markdown.core :as md]))
+  (:require [clojure.java.io :as io]
+            [markdown.core :as md]
+            [noir.io]
+            [cheshire.core :refer :all])
+  (:import [java.io PushbackReader]))
+
+(defn load-clj
+  "loads a file from the resources directory, parses and returns it as clojure"
+  [file]
+  (with-open [r (PushbackReader. (io/reader (io/resource file)))]
+    (read r)))
+
+(defn load-json
+  "loads a file from the resources directory, parses it as JSON and returns it
+   as an equivalent clojure object"
+  [file]
+  (parse-stream (io/reader (io/resource file)) true))
 
 (defn md->html
   "reads a markdown file from public/md and returns an HTML string"
   [filename]
   (->>
-    (io/slurp-resource filename)
+    (noir.io/slurp-resource filename)
     (md/md-to-html-string)))
 
 (defn string->int