diff --git a/frontend/src/actions/messages.js b/frontend/src/actions/messages.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ab3fda5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/actions/messages.js
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+import { saveMessage } from "../utils/api";
+
+//importing loading bar to show when we submit a tweet
+import { showLoading, hideLoading } from "react-redux-loading";
+
+export const ADD_MESSAGE = "ADD_MESSAGE";
+export const RECEIVE_MESSAGES = "RECEIVE_MESSAGES";
+
+function addMessage(message) {
+    return {
+        type: ADD_MESSAGE,
+        message
+    };
+}
+
+//args: message text and the message that the newTweet is replying to, if any
+export function handleAddMessage(text, name) {
+    //using getState to get the current state of our store
+    return (dispatch) => {
+        dispatch(showLoading());
+        return saveMessage({
+            text: text,
+            name: name
+        })
+            .then(message => dispatch(addMessage(message)))
+            .then(() => dispatch(hideLoading()));
+    };
+}
+
+//action creator
+export function receiveMessages(messages) {
+    return {
+        type: RECEIVE_MESSAGES,
+        messages
+    };
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/actions/shared.js b/frontend/src/actions/shared.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..47b3503
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/actions/shared.js
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import { getMessages } from "../utils/api";
+
+//importing action creators
+import { receiveMessages } from "./messages";
+
+//importing action creators of loading bar
+import { showLoading, hideLoading } from "react-redux-loading";
+
+export function handleInitialData() {
+    return dispatch => {
+        //before retrieving info, show loading bar
+        dispatch(showLoading());
+
+        return getMessages().then((messages) => {
+            dispatch(receiveMessages(messages));
+
+            //after everything has loaded, hide loading bar
+            dispatch(hideLoading());
+        });
+    };
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/App.js b/frontend/src/components/App.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4de2b95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/components/App.js
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+import React, { Component, Fragment } from "react";
+import { BrowserRouter as Router, Route } from "react-router-dom";
+import { connect } from "react-redux";
+import { handleInitialData } from "../actions/shared";
+
+import LoadingBar from "react-redux-loading"; //importing the loading bar given by react-redux-loading
+
+import Dashboard from "./Dashboard";
+import NewMessage from "./NewMessage";
+
+class App extends Component {
+  componentDidMount() {
+    this.props.dispatch(handleInitialData());
+  }
+
+  render() {
+    return (
+        <Router>
+          {/* using a fragment so we don't add another element (div) to the DOM */}
+          <Fragment>
+            <LoadingBar />
+            <div className="container">
+              {this.props.loading === true ? null : (
+                  <div>
+                      <NewMessage />
+                      <Dashboard />
+                  </div>
+              )}
+            </div>
+          </Fragment>
+        </Router>
+    );
+  }
+}
+
+function mapStateToProps({ }) {
+  return {
+
+  };
+}
+
+export default connect(mapStateToProps)(App);
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Dashboard.js b/frontend/src/components/Dashboard.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd6867f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Dashboard.js
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import React, { Component } from "react";
+import { connect } from "react-redux";
+
+import Message from "./Message";
+
+class Dashboard extends Component {
+    render() {
+        return (
+            <div>
+                <h3 className="center">Your Timeline</h3>
+                <ul className="dashbord-list">
+                    {this.props.messages.map((m, i) => {
+                        return (
+                            <li key={i}>
+                                <Message message={m} />
+                            </li>
+                        )
+                    })}
+                </ul>
+            </div>
+        );
+    }
+}
+
+//destructuring messages from state
+function mapStateToProps(state) {
+    return state;
+}
+
+export default connect(mapStateToProps)(Dashboard);
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Message.js b/frontend/src/components/Message.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3c8fd1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Message.js
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import React, { Component } from "react";
+import { connect } from "react-redux";
+import { withRouter } from "react-router-dom";
+
+class Message extends Component {
+    render() {
+        const { message } = this.props;
+
+        if (message === null) {
+            return <p>This message doesn't exist</p>;
+        }
+
+        const {
+            name,
+            text
+        } = message;
+
+        return (
+            <div className="message-info">
+                <div>
+                    <span>{name}</span>
+                    <p>{text}</p>
+                </div>
+            </div>
+        );
+    }
+}
+
+function mapStateToProps(message) {
+    return message;
+}
+
+//using withRouter because this component is not being rendered by react router, so to have access to history props, we need to use withRouter
+export default withRouter(connect(mapStateToProps)(Message));
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/NewMessage.js b/frontend/src/components/NewMessage.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ba45ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/components/NewMessage.js
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+import React, { Component } from "react";
+import { connect } from "react-redux";
+import { handleAddMessage } from "../actions/messages";
+
+class NewMessage extends Component {
+    state = {
+        text: "",
+        name: ""
+    };
+
+    handleChangeText = e => {
+        const text = e.target.value;
+
+        this.setState(() => ({
+            text
+        }));
+    };
+
+    handleChangeName = e => {
+        const name = e.target.value;
+
+        this.setState(() => ({
+            name
+        }));
+    };
+
+    handleSubmit = e => {
+        e.preventDefault();
+        const { text, name } = this.state;
+
+        const { dispatch } = this.props;
+
+        dispatch(handleAddMessage(text, name));
+
+        //reset state to default
+        this.setState(() => ({
+            text: "",
+            name: ""
+        }));
+    };
+
+    render() {
+        const { text, name } = this.state;
+        const messageLeft = 280 - text.length;
+
+        return (
+            <div>
+                <h3 className="center">Compose new Tweet </h3>
+                <form className="new-message" onSubmit={this.handleSubmit}>
+          <textarea
+              placeholder="Message"
+              value={text}
+              onChange={this.handleChangeText}
+              className="textarea"
+              maxLength={280}
+          />
+          <input type="text" placeholder="Name" value={name} onChange={this.handleChangeName}/>
+                    {/* show how many characters are left */}
+                    {messageLeft <= 100 && <div className="message-length">{messageLeft}</div>}
+
+                    {/* button is disabled if it's an empty string */}
+                    <button className="btn" type="submit" disabled={text === ""}>
+                        Submit
+                    </button>
+                </form>
+            </div>
+        );
+    }
+}
+
+export default connect()(NewMessage);
diff --git a/frontend/src/middleware/index.js b/frontend/src/middleware/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..90c5f66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/middleware/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+import thunk from "redux-thunk";
+import logger from "./logger";
+
+import { applyMiddleware } from "redux";
+
+export default applyMiddleware(thunk, logger);
diff --git a/frontend/src/middleware/logger.js b/frontend/src/middleware/logger.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dbecb0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/middleware/logger.js
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+const logger = store => next => action => {
+    console.group(action.type);
+    console.log("The action: ", action);
+    const returnValue = next(action);
+    console.log("The new state: ", store.getState());
+    console.groupEnd();
+
+    return returnValue;
+};
+
+export default logger;
diff --git a/frontend/src/reducers/index.js b/frontend/src/reducers/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..913c203
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/reducers/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import { combineReducers } from "redux";
+
+import messages from "./messages";
+
+import { loadingBarReducer } from "react-redux-loading";
+
+export default combineReducers({
+    messages,
+    loadingBar: loadingBarReducer
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/reducers/messages.js b/frontend/src/reducers/messages.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..44173be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/reducers/messages.js
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import { RECEIVE_MESSAGES, ADD_MESSAGE } from "../actions/messages";
+
+export default function messages(state = [], action) {
+    switch (action.type) {
+        case RECEIVE_MESSAGES:
+            return action.messages;
+
+        case ADD_MESSAGE:
+            console.log("reducer message");
+            console.log(state);
+            console.log(action);
+            const { message } = action; //getting the newly added message from action
+            state.push(message);
+
+            return state;
+
+        default:
+            return state;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/utils/_DATA.js b/frontend/src/utils/_DATA.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..37f8e8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/utils/_DATA.js
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+let messages = [
+    {
+        text: "Shoutout to all the speakers I know for whom English is not a first language, but can STILL explain a concept well. It's hard enough to give a good talk in your mother tongue!",
+        name: "sarah_edo"
+    },
+    {
+        text: "I hope one day the propTypes pendulum swings back. Such a simple yet effective API. Was one of my favorite parts of React.",
+        name: "tylermcginnis"
+    },
+    {
+        text: "Want to work at Facebook/Google/:BigCompany? Start contributing code long before you ever interview there.",
+        name: "tylermcginnis"
+    },
+    {
+        text: "Puppies 101: buy a hamper with a lid on it.",
+        name: "sarah_edo"
+    },
+    {
+        text: "Is there a metric like code coverage, but that shows lines that, if changed (in a syntactically correct way), wouldn’t cause tests to fail?",
+        name: "dan_abramov",
+    },
+    {
+        text: "React came out 'rethinking best practices'. It has since accumulated 'best practices' of its own. Let’s see if we can do better.",
+        name: "dan_abramov",
+    },
+    {
+        text: "I think I realized I like dogs so much because I can really relate to being motivated by snacks",
+        name: "sarah_edo",
+    },
+    {
+        text: "Maybe the real benefit of open source was the friendships we made along the way?",
+        name: "tylermcginnis",
+    }
+];
+
+export function _getMessages() {
+    return new Promise((res, rej) => {
+        setTimeout(() => res(messages), 1000)
+    })
+}
+
+export function _saveMessage(message) {
+    return new Promise((res, rej) => {
+        setTimeout(() => {
+            res(message)
+        }, 1000)
+    })
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/utils/api.js b/frontend/src/utils/api.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..34ef950
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/utils/api.js
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import {
+    _getMessages,
+    _saveMessage,
+} from './_DATA.js'
+
+import * as fluence from "fluence";
+
+let session = fluence.directConnect("localhost", 30000, 1);
+
+export function getMessages () {
+    let request = {
+        action: "Fetch"
+    };
+    return session.request(JSON.stringify(request))
+        .then((r) => r.asString())
+        .then((r) => {
+            let posts = JSON.parse(r);
+            console.log("posts");
+            console.log(posts);
+            return {
+                messages: posts.map((p) => {
+                    return {
+                        text: p.msg,
+                        name: p.username
+                    }
+                })
+            }
+        });
+}
+
+export function saveMessage(message) {
+    let request = {
+        action: "Post",
+        msg: message.text,
+        username: message.name
+    };
+    return session.requestAsync(request).then(() => message);
+}