diff --git a/nirvana-ios/Models/User.swift b/nirvana-ios/Models/User.swift
index 92f45a9..be2dbf6 100644
--- a/nirvana-ios/Models/User.swift
+++ b/nirvana-ios/Models/User.swift
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 //
 
 import Foundation
+import Firebase
 import FirebaseFirestoreSwift
 
 struct User: Identifiable, Codable {
@@ -18,14 +19,16 @@ struct User: Identifiable, Codable {
     @ServerTimestamp var lastLoggedInTimestamp: Date?
     @ServerTimestamp var createdTimestamp: Date?
     
-    enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
-        case nickname
-        case phoneNumber
-        case emailAddress
-        case avatar
-        case lastLoggedInTimestamp
-        case createdTimestamp
-    }
+    // careful, if using codingkeys, you have to mapping every attribute thereafter
+//    enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
+//        case id
+//        case nickname
+//        case phoneNumber
+//        case emailAddress
+//        case avatar
+//        case lastLoggedInTimestamp
+//        case createdTimestamp
+//    }
 }
 
 struct TestUser: Identifiable, Hashable {
diff --git a/nirvana-ios/Services/AuthSessionStore.swift b/nirvana-ios/Services/AuthSessionStore.swift
index ee7a99a..749377a 100644
--- a/nirvana-ios/Services/AuthSessionStore.swift
+++ b/nirvana-ios/Services/AuthSessionStore.swift
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ final class AuthSessionStore: ObservableObject, SessionStore {
     
     func setupAuthListen() {
         // monitor authentication changes using firebase
+        print("let's see what user looks like in authsession at at the start: \(self.user)")
         self.handler = Auth.auth().addStateDidChangeListener { [weak self] res, user in
             print("auth listener activated")
             
@@ -135,10 +136,9 @@ final class AuthSessionStore: ObservableObject, SessionStore {
                     print("user from firestore in auth listener: \(firestoreUser)")
                     if firestoreUser != nil {
                         self?.user = firestoreUser
+                        print("lets see if authsessionstore user is being set: \(self?.user)")
                     }
                 }
-                
-                self.sessionState = .isAuthenticated
             } else {
                 // if we don't have a user, set our session to nil
                 self.user = nil
diff --git a/nirvana-ios/Views/Router/RouterView.swift b/nirvana-ios/Views/Router/RouterView.swift
index 590c93d..0ec6a25 100644
--- a/nirvana-ios/Views/Router/RouterView.swift
+++ b/nirvana-ios/Views/Router/RouterView.swift
@@ -30,25 +30,24 @@ struct RouterView: View {
     @EnvironmentObject var navigationStack: NavigationStack
     
     var body: some View {
-        SplashView()
-        .onReceive(self.authSessionStore.$user) {updatedUserFromAuth in // observing user because takes longer to get the user details than see updates to sessionstate and we need the user for the logic below
-            print("figuring out where to send the user based on state: \(self.authSessionStore.sessionState)")
-            if self.authSessionStore.sessionState == SessionState.isAuthenticated && updatedUserFromAuth != nil {
-                print("user stored in authsession store: \(updatedUserFromAuth)")
-                // evaluate where the user should go based on how much data he has
-                
-                // user is authenticated but has never picked a username or avatar
-                if updatedUserFromAuth?.nickname != nil && updatedUserFromAuth?.avatar != nil {
-                    self.navigationStack.push(OnboardingTrioView())
+        // authenticated and have user's data
+        if self.authSessionStore.sessionState == SessionState.isAuthenticated {
+            if self.authSessionStore.user != nil {
+                if self.authSessionStore.user?.nickname == nil && self.authSessionStore.user?.avatar == nil {
+                    OnboardingTrioView()
                 } else {// user is existing user/up and running user -> signs in is pushed nicely right to hub
-                    self.navigationStack.push(InnerCircleView())
+                    InnerCircleView()
                 }
             } else {
-                print("sending user to welcome view")
-                // go to welcome page at which point they can go and follow the programmatic
-                // line to the sigin and so on and so forth
-                self.navigationStack.push(WelcomeView())
+                OnboardingTrioView()
             }
+            
+        } else if self.authSessionStore.sessionState == SessionState.isLoggedOut {
+            // go to welcome page at which point they can go and follow the programmatic
+            // line to the sigin and so on and so forth
+            WelcomeView()
+        } else {
+            SplashView()
         }
     }
 }