diff --git a/decoding/tools.py b/decoding/tools.py
index fd55783..ed38f80 100644
--- a/decoding/tools.py
+++ b/decoding/tools.py
@@ -16,11 +16,16 @@
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------#
 # Specify model and dictionary locations here
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------#
-path_to_model = '/u/rkiros/research/semhash/models/toydec.npz'
-path_to_dictionary = '/ais/gobi3/u/rkiros/flickr8k/dictionary.pkl'
+PATH_TO_MODEL = '/u/rkiros/research/semhash/models/toydec.npz'
+PATH_TO_PARAMS = '/u/rkiros/research/semhash/models/toydec.npz'
+PATH_TO_DICTIONARY = '/ais/gobi3/u/rkiros/flickr8k/dictionary.pkl'
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------#
 
-def load_model():
+def load_model(
+        path_to_model=PATH_TO_MODEL,            # model opts (.pkl)
+        path_to_params=PATH_TO_PARAMS,          # model params (.npz)
+        path_to_dictionary=PATH_TO_DICTIONARY
+        ):
     """
     Load a trained model for decoding
     """
@@ -45,7 +50,7 @@ def load_model():
     # Load parameters
     print 'Loading model parameters...'
     params = init_params(options)
-    params = load_params(path_to_model, params)
+    params = load_params(path_to_params, params)
     tparams = init_tparams(params)
 
     # Sampler.
diff --git a/training/tools.py b/training/tools.py
index 9bc07b2..c36972c 100644
--- a/training/tools.py
+++ b/training/tools.py
@@ -22,12 +22,19 @@
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------#
 # Specify model and dictionary locations here
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------#
-path_to_model = '/u/rkiros/research/semhash/models/toy.npz'
-path_to_dictionary = '/ais/gobi3/u/rkiros/bookgen/book_dictionary_large.pkl'
-path_to_word2vec = '/ais/gobi3/u/rkiros/word2vec/GoogleNews-vectors-negative300.bin'
+PATH_TO_MODEL = '/u/rkiros/research/semhash/models/toy.pkl'
+PATH_TO_PARAMS = '/u/rkiros/research/semhash/models/toy.npz'
+PATH_TO_DICTIONARY = '/ais/gobi3/u/rkiros/bookgen/book_dictionary_large.pkl'
+PATH_TO_WORD2VEC = '/ais/gobi3/u/rkiros/word2vec/GoogleNews-vectors-negative300.bin'
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------#
 
-def load_model(embed_map=None):
+def load_model(
+        embed_map=None,
+        path_to_model=PATH_TO_MODEL,            # model opts (.pkl)
+        path_to_params=PATH_TO_PARAMS,          # model params (.npz)
+        path_to_dictionary=PATH_TO_DICTIONARY,
+        path_to_word2vec=PATH_TO_WORD2VEC
+        ):
     """
     Load all model components + apply vocab expansion
     """
@@ -46,13 +53,13 @@ def load_model(embed_map=None):
 
     # Load model options
     print 'Loading model options...'
-    with open('%s.pkl'%path_to_model, 'rb') as f:
+    with open(path_to_model, 'rb') as f:
         options = pkl.load(f)
 
     # Load parameters
     print 'Loading model parameters...'
     params = init_params(options)
-    params = load_params(path_to_model, params)
+    params = load_params(path_to_params, params)
     tparams = init_tparams(params)
 
     # Extractor functions
@@ -149,7 +156,7 @@ def preprocess(text):
         X.append(result)
     return X
 
-def load_googlenews_vectors():
+def load_googlenews_vectors(path_to_word2vec=PATH_TO_WORD2VEC):
     """
     load the word2vec GoogleNews vectors
     """
diff --git a/training/utils.py b/training/utils.py
index ac0c739..183fc76 100644
--- a/training/utils.py
+++ b/training/utils.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import theano
 import theano.tensor as tensor
 import numpy
+import warnings
 
 from collections import OrderedDict