diff --git a/include/ipfs/journal/journal.h b/include/ipfs/journal/journal.h
index ce8bd20..764656c 100644
--- a/include/ipfs/journal/journal.h
+++ b/include/ipfs/journal/journal.h
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ struct Libp2pProtocolHandler* ipfs_journal_build_protocol_handler(const struct I
 
 /***
  * Send a journal message to a remote peer
+ * @param local_node the local node
  * @param peer the peer to send it to
  * @returns true(1) on success, false(0) otherwise.
  */
-int ipfs_journal_sync(struct Libp2pPeer* peer);
+int ipfs_journal_sync(struct IpfsNode* local_node, struct Libp2pPeer* peer);
diff --git a/include/ipfs/repo/fsrepo/journalstore.h b/include/ipfs/repo/fsrepo/journalstore.h
index 1f04056..ab623c0 100644
--- a/include/ipfs/repo/fsrepo/journalstore.h
+++ b/include/ipfs/repo/fsrepo/journalstore.h
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ int repo_journalstore_cursor_get(struct Datastore* datastore, void* cursor, enum
 /**
  * Close the cursor
  */
-int repo_cournalstore_cursor_close(struct Datastore* datastore, void* cursor);
+int repo_journalstore_cursor_close(struct Datastore* datastore, void* cursor);
 
 int journal_record_free(struct JournalRecord* rec);
 
diff --git a/journal/Makefile b/journal/Makefile
index e0975c5..7a7b1d8 100644
--- a/journal/Makefile
+++ b/journal/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 CC = gcc
-CFLAGS = -O0 -I../include -I../../c-libp2p/include -I../../c-multiaddr/include -I../../c-multihash/include -I../../c-protobuf -Wall -std=c99
+CFLAGS = -O0 -I../include -I../../c-libp2p/include -I../../c-multiaddr/include -I../../c-multihash/include -I../../c-protobuf -I../../lmdb/libraries/liblmdb -Wall -std=c99
 
 ifdef DEBUG
 CFLAGS += -g3
diff --git a/journal/journal.c b/journal/journal.c
index d76ecce..3539fd8 100644
--- a/journal/journal.c
+++ b/journal/journal.c
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 /**
  * The journal protocol attempts to keep a journal in sync with other (approved) nodes
  */
-
+#include "libp2p/os/utils.h"
 #include "ipfs/journal/journal.h"
+#include "ipfs/journal/journal_message.h"
+#include "ipfs/journal/journal_entry.h"
+#include "ipfs/repo/fsrepo/journalstore.h"
 
 /***
  * See if we can handle this message
@@ -58,32 +61,114 @@ struct Libp2pProtocolHandler* ipfs_journal_build_protocol_handler(const struct I
 	return handler;
 }
 
+/***
+ * Retrieve the last n records from the journalstore
+ * @param database the reference to the opened db
+ * @param n the number of records to retrieve
+ * @returns a vector of struct JournalRecord
+ */
+struct Libp2pVector* ipfs_journal_get_last(struct Datastore* database, int n) {
+	struct Libp2pVector* vector = libp2p_utils_vector_new(1);
+	if (vector != NULL) {
+		void* cursor;
+		if (!repo_journalstore_cursor_open(database, &cursor))
+			return NULL;
+		struct JournalRecord* rec = NULL;
+		if (!repo_journalstore_cursor_get(database, cursor, CURSOR_LAST, &rec)) {
+			libp2p_utils_vector_free(vector);
+			repo_journalstore_cursor_close(database, cursor);
+			return NULL;
+		}
+		// we've got one, now start the loop
+		int i = 0;
+		do {
+			libp2p_utils_vector_add(vector, rec);
+			if (!repo_journalstore_cursor_get(database, cursor, CURSOR_PREVIOUS, &rec)) {
+				break;
+			}
+			i++;
+		} while(i < n);
+		repo_journalstore_cursor_close(database, cursor);
+	}
+	return vector;
+}
+
+int ipfs_journal_free_records(struct Libp2pVector* records) {
+	if (records != NULL) {
+		for (int i = 0; i < records->total; i++) {
+			struct JournalRecord* rec = (struct JournalRecord*)libp2p_utils_vector_get(records, i);
+			journal_record_free(rec);
+		}
+		libp2p_utils_vector_free(records);
+	}
+	return 1;
+}
+
+int ipfs_journal_send_message(struct IpfsNode* node, struct Libp2pPeer* peer, struct JournalMessage* message) {
+	if (peer->connection_type != CONNECTION_TYPE_CONNECTED)
+		libp2p_peer_connect(&node->identity->private_key, peer, node->peerstore, 10);
+	if (peer->connection_type != CONNECTION_TYPE_CONNECTED)
+		return 0;
+	// protobuf the message
+	size_t msg_size = ipfs_journal_message_encode_size(message);
+	uint8_t msg[msg_size];
+	if (!ipfs_journal_message_encode(message, &msg[0], msg_size, &msg_size))
+		return 0;
+	// send the header
+	char* header = "/ipfs/journalio/1.0.0/n";
+	if (!peer->sessionContext->default_stream->write(peer->sessionContext->default_stream, (unsigned char*)header, strlen(header)))
+		return 0;
+	// send the message
+	return peer->sessionContext->default_stream->write(peer->sessionContext->default_stream, msg, msg_size);
+}
+
 /***
  * Send a journal message to a remote peer
  * @param peer the peer to send it to
  * @returns true(1) on success, false(0) otherwise.
  */
-int ipfs_journal_sync(struct Libp2pPeer* peer) {
+int ipfs_journal_sync(struct IpfsNode* local_node, struct Libp2pPeer* peer) {
 	// make sure we're connected securely
 	if (peer->is_local)
 		return 0;
 	if (peer->sessionContext->secure_stream == NULL)
 		return 0;
-	/*
-	// grab the last 10 files
-	struct Libp2pVector* vector = libp2p_utils_vector_new(1);
-	if (vector == NULL) {
-		return 0;
+
+	// grab the last 10? files
+	struct Libp2pVector* journal_records = ipfs_journal_get_last(local_node->repo->config->datastore, 10);
+	if (journal_records == NULL || journal_records->total == 0) {
+		// nothing to do
+		return 1;
 	}
-	ipfs_journal_get_last(10, &vector);
-	struct JournalMessage* message = NULL;
 	// build the message
-	if (!ipfs_journal_build_message(message))
-		return 0;
-	// protobuf the message
-	// send the protocol header
+	struct JournalMessage* message = ipfs_journal_message_new();
+	for(int i = 0; i < journal_records->total; i++) {
+		struct JournalRecord* rec = (struct JournalRecord*) libp2p_utils_vector_get(journal_records, i);
+		if (rec->timestamp > message->end_epoch)
+			message->end_epoch = rec->timestamp;
+		if (message->start_epoch == 0 || rec->timestamp < message->start_epoch)
+			message->start_epoch = rec->timestamp;
+		struct JournalEntry* entry = ipfs_journal_entry_new();
+		entry->timestamp = rec->timestamp;
+		entry->pin = 1;
+		entry->hash_size = rec->hash_size;
+		entry->hash = (uint8_t*) malloc(entry->hash_size);
+		if (entry->hash == NULL) {
+			// out of memory
+			ipfs_journal_message_free(message);
+			ipfs_journal_free_records(journal_records);
+			return 0;
+		}
+		memcpy(entry->hash, rec->hash, entry->hash_size);
+		libp2p_utils_vector_add(message->journal_entries, entry);
+	}
 	// send the message
-	 */
-	return 0;
+	message->current_epoch = os_utils_gmtime();
+	int retVal = ipfs_journal_send_message(local_node, peer, message);
+	// clean up
+	ipfs_journal_message_free(message);
+	ipfs_journal_free_records(journal_records);
+
+	return retVal;
 }
 
diff --git a/repo/fsrepo/lmdb_datastore.c b/repo/fsrepo/lmdb_datastore.c
index eaf6b3e..873101c 100644
--- a/repo/fsrepo/lmdb_datastore.c
+++ b/repo/fsrepo/lmdb_datastore.c
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 
 #include "lmdb.h"
 #include "libp2p/utils/logger.h"
+#include "libp2p/os/utils.h"
 #include "ipfs/repo/fsrepo/lmdb_datastore.h"
 #include "ipfs/repo/fsrepo/journalstore.h"
 #include "varint.h"
@@ -122,17 +123,6 @@ int repo_fsrepo_lmdb_get(const char* key, size_t key_size, unsigned char* data,
 	return 1;
 }
 
-
-/**
- * Get the current time UTC
- * @returns number of seconds since epoch in UTC
- */
-unsigned long long lmdb_datastore_gmt_time() {
-	time_t local = time(NULL);
-	struct tm *gmt = gmtime(&local);
-	return (unsigned long long)mktime(gmt);
-}
-
 /**
  * Write data to the datastore with the specified key
  * @param key the key
@@ -162,7 +152,7 @@ int repo_fsrepo_lmdb_put(unsigned const char* key, size_t key_size, unsigned cha
 		return 0;
 
 	// add the timestamp
-	unsigned long long timestamp = lmdb_datastore_gmt_time();
+	unsigned long long timestamp = os_utils_gmtime();
 	uint8_t *record;
 	size_t record_size;
 	repo_fsrepo_lmdb_build_record(timestamp, data, data_size, &record, &record_size);
diff --git a/repo/fsrepo/lmdb_journalstore.c b/repo/fsrepo/lmdb_journalstore.c
index 83bbdbf..57363a8 100644
--- a/repo/fsrepo/lmdb_journalstore.c
+++ b/repo/fsrepo/lmdb_journalstore.c
@@ -100,10 +100,16 @@ int repo_journalstore_cursor_get(struct Datastore* datastore, void* crsr, enum D
 		MDB_val mdb_key;
 		MDB_val mdb_value;
 		MDB_cursor_op co = MDB_FIRST;
+
 		if (op == CURSOR_FIRST)
 			co = MDB_FIRST;
 		else if (op == CURSOR_NEXT)
 			co = MDB_NEXT;
+		else if (op == CURSOR_LAST)
+			co = MDB_LAST;
+		else if (op == CURSOR_PREVIOUS)
+			co = MDB_PREV;
+
 		if (mdb_cursor_get(tc->cursor, &mdb_key, &mdb_value, co) != 0) {
 			return 0;
 		}
@@ -126,7 +132,7 @@ int repo_journalstore_cursor_get(struct Datastore* datastore, void* crsr, enum D
 /**
  * Close the cursor
  */
-int repo_cournalstore_cursor_close(struct Datastore* datastore, void* crsr) {
+int repo_journalstore_cursor_close(struct Datastore* datastore, void* crsr) {
 	if (crsr != NULL) {
 		struct lmdb_trans_cursor* cursor = (struct lmdb_trans_cursor*)crsr;
 		if (cursor->cursor != NULL) {