diff --git a/Procfile b/Procfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e634d02bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Procfile
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+local: dynamodb-local # port 8000
+admin: env AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=$DYNAMODB_ADMIN_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID PORT=8001 dynamodb-admin # port 8001
diff --git a/lib/jets/application.rb b/lib/jets/application.rb
index 6bf7289ab..2cc84bb9d 100644
--- a/lib/jets/application.rb
+++ b/lib/jets/application.rb
@@ -13,12 +13,14 @@ def config
     @config ||= RecursiveOpenStruct.new
   end
 
+  # Jets' the default config/application.rb is loaded,
+  # then the project's config/application.rb is loaded.
   def load_configs
     require File.expand_path("../default/application.rb", __FILE__)
     app_config = "#{Jets.root}config/application.rb"
     require app_config if File.exist?(app_config)
     set_aliases!
-    normalize_environment!
+    normalize_env_vars!
   end
 
   # Use the shorter name in stack names, but use the full name when it
@@ -48,9 +50,10 @@ def set_aliases!
     end
   end
 
-  # It is pretty easy to attempt to environment variables without the correct
-  # AWS Environment.Variables path struture. We auto-fix it for convenience.
-  def normalize_environment!
+  # It is pretty easy to attempt to set environment variables without
+  # the correct AWS Environment.Variables path struture.
+  # Auto-fix it for convenience.
+  def normalize_env_vars!
     environment = config.function.environment
     if environment and !environment.to_h.key?(:variables)
       config.function.environment = {
diff --git a/lib/jets/default/application.rb b/lib/jets/default/application.rb
index abcb6c94a..6fdf9d3fc 100644
--- a/lib/jets/default/application.rb
+++ b/lib/jets/default/application.rb
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
   config.extra_autoload_paths = []
 
   # function properties defaults
+  config.function = RecursiveOpenStruct.new
   config.function.timeout = 10
   config.function.runtime = "nodejs6.10"
   config.function.memory_size = 1536
diff --git a/lib/jets/util.rb b/lib/jets/util.rb
index 76dd02ff2..b4c202182 100644
--- a/lib/jets/util.rb
+++ b/lib/jets/util.rb
@@ -30,11 +30,14 @@ def config
     Jets.application.config
   end
 
+  # Calling application triggers load of configs.
+  # Jets' the default config/application.rb is loaded,
+  # then the project's config/application.rb is loaded.
   @@application = nil
   def application
     return @@application if @@application
     @@application = Jets::Application.new
-    @@application.load_configs # triggers load of application configs
+    @@application.load_configs
     @@application
   end
 
diff --git a/spec/lib/jets/cfn/template_builders/controller_builder_spec.rb b/spec/lib/jets/cfn/template_builders/controller_builder_spec.rb
index f33cd26a1..fc3f9e7be 100644
--- a/spec/lib/jets/cfn/template_builders/controller_builder_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/jets/cfn/template_builders/controller_builder_spec.rb
@@ -55,8 +55,7 @@
         properties = resources["StoresControllerIndexLambdaFunction"]["Properties"]
 
         expect(properties["MemorySize"]).to eq 1000
-        # should not pascalize the keys under Variables section
-        expect(properties["DeadLetterConfig"]).to eq "arn"
+        expect(properties["Timeout"]).to eq 20
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/lib/jets/cfn/template_builders/function_properties_builder_spec.rb b/spec/lib/jets/cfn/template_builders/function_properties_builder_spec.rb
index 6e2479469..4315b0243 100644
--- a/spec/lib/jets/cfn/template_builders/function_properties_builder_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/jets/cfn/template_builders/function_properties_builder_spec.rb
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
         # pp props
         # testing properties(...)
         expect(props["MemorySize"]).to eq 1000
-        expect(props["Role"]).to eq "myrole"
+        expect(props["Role"]).to eq("Ref"=>"IamRole")
         expect(props["Timeout"]).to eq 20
       end
     end
diff --git a/spec/lib/jets/lambda/dsl_spec.rb b/spec/lib/jets/lambda/dsl_spec.rb
index ba4683859..439a345c9 100644
--- a/spec/lib/jets/lambda/dsl_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/jets/lambda/dsl_spec.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,26 @@
 require "spec_helper"
 
+class TestPropertiesController < ApplicationController
+  properties(
+    dead_letter_config: "arn", timeout: 20, role: "myrole", memory_size: 1000
+  )
+  def index
+  end
+end
+
 describe Jets::Lambda::Dsl do
+  context "TestPropertiesController" do
+    let(:controller) { TestPropertiesController.new({}, nil, "index") }
+
+    it "tasks" do
+      index_task = TestPropertiesController.all_tasks[:index]
+      expect(index_task).to be_a(Jets::Lambda::Task)
+      expect(index_task.properties).to eq(
+        dead_letter_config: "arn", timeout: 20, role: "myrole", memory_size: 1000
+      )
+    end
+  end
+
   context "StoresController" do
     let(:controller) { StoresController.new({}, nil, "new") }
 
@@ -10,9 +30,6 @@
 
       index_task = StoresController.all_tasks[:index]
       expect(index_task).to be_a(Jets::Lambda::Task)
-      expect(index_task.properties).to eq(
-        dead_letter_config: "arn", timeout: 20, role: "myrole", memory_size: 1000
-      )
     end
 
     it "timeout" do
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 8ab38a83a..5f3049a5b 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -36,6 +36,15 @@ def json_file(path)
   end
 end
 
+# pretty hacky way of stubbing out md5_code_zipfile
+Jets::Naming # autoload it
+class Jets::Naming
+  # override this for specs
+  def self.md5_code_zipfile
+    "/tmp/jets/demo/code/code-2e0e18f6.zip"
+  end
+end
+
 RSpec.configure do |c|
   c.before(:suite) do
     Aws.config.update(stub_responses: true)