diff --git a/app/controllers/merged/sections_controller.rb b/app/controllers/merged/sections_controller.rb
index 791802d..2f52437 100644
--- a/app/controllers/merged/sections_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/merged/sections_controller.rb
@@ -10,11 +10,13 @@ module Merged
     def select_image
       @images = Image.all
     end
+
     def select_template
-      @sections = SectionStyle.sections
+      @sections = SectionStyle.all
     end
+
     def select_card_template
-      @cards = CardStyle.cards
+      @cards = CardStyle.all
     end
 
     def new
diff --git a/app/controllers/merged/styles_controller.rb b/app/controllers/merged/styles_controller.rb
index 248c58f..5716d8a 100644
--- a/app/controllers/merged/styles_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/merged/styles_controller.rb
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ module Merged
   class StylesController < MergedController
 
     def index
-      @sections = SectionStyle.sections
-      @cards = CardStyle.cards
+      @section_styles = SectionStyle.all
+      @cards_styles = CardStyle.all
     end
 
   end
diff --git a/app/models/merged/card.rb b/app/models/merged/card.rb
index 0846050..60172e3 100644
--- a/app/models/merged/card.rb
+++ b/app/models/merged/card.rb
@@ -65,15 +65,16 @@ module Merged
     end
 
     def template_style
-      CardStyle.cards[ section.card_template ]
+      CardStyle.find_by_template( section.card_template)
     end
+
     def allowed_fields
       template_style.fields
     end
 
     def self.build_data(card_template)
       data = { "id" => SecureRandom.hex(10) }
-      CardStyle.cards[ card_template ].fields.each do |key|
+      CardStyle.find_by_template( card_template ).fields.each do |key|
         data[key] = key.upcase
       end
       data
diff --git a/app/models/merged/card_style.rb b/app/models/merged/card_style.rb
index 92f1e2d..57585f4 100644
--- a/app/models/merged/card_style.rb
+++ b/app/models/merged/card_style.rb
@@ -1,42 +1,22 @@
 module Merged
-  class CardStyle
-    @@cards = {}
+  class CardStyle < ActiveYaml::Base
+    set_root_path Engine.root + "config"
 
-    attr_reader :content
-
-    def initialize content
-      @content = content
-    end
-
-    [:template , :text , :header, :fields ].each do |meth|
-      define_method(meth) do
-        @content[meth.to_s]
-      end
-    end
+    fields  :template , :text , :header, :fields
 
     def card_preview
       "merged/card_preview/" + template
     end
 
-    def options
+    def options_definitions
       option_defs = []
-      @content["options"].each do |name|
+      options.each do |name|
         option = Option.find_by_name(name)
         raise "no option for #{name}:#{name.class}" if option.blank?
         option_defs << option
-      end if @content["options"]
+      end if options
       option_defs
     end
 
-    def self.cards
-      @@cards
-    end
-
-    def self.load( yaml )
-      yaml.each do |content|
-        card = CardStyle.new(content)
-        @@cards[card.template] = card
-      end
-    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/models/merged/option.rb b/app/models/merged/option.rb
index 894aa96..c052e31 100644
--- a/app/models/merged/option.rb
+++ b/app/models/merged/option.rb
@@ -23,9 +23,5 @@ module Merged
       attributes[:values].split(" ")
     end
 
-    def self.load()
-      self.all
-    end
-
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/models/merged/optioned.rb b/app/models/merged/optioned.rb
index 35c96b8..b8cb5c5 100644
--- a/app/models/merged/optioned.rb
+++ b/app/models/merged/optioned.rb
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ module Merged
     end
 
     def option_definitions
-      template_style.options
+      template_style.options_definitions
     end
 
     def option(name)
diff --git a/app/models/merged/section.rb b/app/models/merged/section.rb
index 405fa0d..24d5df5 100644
--- a/app/models/merged/section.rb
+++ b/app/models/merged/section.rb
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ module Merged
       new_style = template_style
       if(new_style.has_cards?)
         unless card_template
-          @content["card_template"] = CardStyle.cards.keys.first
+          @content["card_template"] = CardStyle.first.name
           @content["cards"] = []
           raise "Should not have cards" unless cards.empty?
         end
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ module Merged
     end
 
     def template_style
-      SectionStyle.sections[ template ]
+      SectionStyle.find_by_template( template )
     end
 
     def allowed_fields
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ module Merged
       end unless style.fields.blank?
       if(style.has_cards?)
         data["cards"] = []
-        data["card_template"] = CardStyle.cards.keys.first
+        data["card_template"] = CardStyle.first.name
       end
       data
     end
diff --git a/app/models/merged/section_style.rb b/app/models/merged/section_style.rb
index ec0e71b..dcdb476 100644
--- a/app/models/merged/section_style.rb
+++ b/app/models/merged/section_style.rb
@@ -1,25 +1,25 @@
 module Merged
-  class SectionStyle < CardStyle
+  class SectionStyle < ActiveYaml::Base
+    set_root_path Engine.root + "config"
 
-    @@sections = {}
+    fields  :template , :text , :header, :fields , :cards
 
     def has_cards?
-      @content["cards"] == true
+      cards == true
     end
 
     def section_preview
       "merged/section_preview/" + template
     end
 
-    def self.sections
-      @@sections
-    end
-
-    def self.load(yaml)
-      yaml.each do |content|
-        section = SectionStyle.new(content)
-        @@sections[section.template] = section
-      end
+    def options_definitions
+      option_defs = []
+      options.each do |name|
+        option = Option.find_by_name(name)
+        raise "no option for #{name}:#{name.class}" if option.blank?
+        option_defs << option
+      end if options
+      option_defs
     end
 
   end
diff --git a/app/views/merged/sections/select_card_template.haml b/app/views/merged/sections/select_card_template.haml
index dfb2067..a8f8f01 100644
--- a/app/views/merged/sections/select_card_template.haml
+++ b/app/views/merged/sections/select_card_template.haml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 .grid.grid-cols-4.gap-2.m-8
-  - @cards.each do |name ,style|
+  - @cards.each do |style|
     .relative.block.border.border-gray-100
       = link_to( section_set_card_template_path( card_template: style.template )) do
         =image_tag(style.card_preview , class: "h-56 w-full object-contain lg:h-72")
diff --git a/app/views/merged/sections/select_template.haml b/app/views/merged/sections/select_template.haml
index 2fac17b..ea84267 100644
--- a/app/views/merged/sections/select_template.haml
+++ b/app/views/merged/sections/select_template.haml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
         Select Template for Section #{@section.index + 1}
 
 .grid.grid-cols-4.gap-2.m-8
-  - @sections.each do |name , style|
+  - @sections.each do |style|
     .relative.block.border.border-gray-100
       = link_to( section_set_template_path( template: style.template )) do
         =image_tag(style.section_preview , class: "h-56 w-full object-contain lg:h-72")
diff --git a/app/views/merged/styles/index.haml b/app/views/merged/styles/index.haml
index a402380..bca6181 100644
--- a/app/views/merged/styles/index.haml
+++ b/app/views/merged/styles/index.haml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   %h1.text-4xl.font-bold
     Section styles
 .grid.grid-cols-3.gap-4.m-8
-  -@sections.each do |name , style|
+  -@section_styles.each do | style|
     %article.overflow-hidden.rounded-lg.border.border-gray-100.shadow-sm
       =image_tag(style.section_preview , class: "h-56 w-full object-contain lg:h-72")
       %p.mt-2.text-sm.text-gray-500
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
   %h1.text-4xl.font-bold
     Card styles
 .grid.grid-cols-3.gap-4.m-8
-  -@cards.each do |name , style|
+  -@cards_styles.each do |style|
     %article.overflow-hidden.rounded-lg.border.border-gray-100.shadow-sm
       =image_tag(style.card_preview , class: "h-56 w-full object-contain lg:h-72")
       %p.mt-2.text-sm.text-gray-500
diff --git a/config/merged/card_style.yaml b/config/merged/card_styles.yml
similarity index 100%
rename from config/merged/card_style.yaml
rename to config/merged/card_styles.yml
diff --git a/config/merged/section_style.yaml b/config/merged/section_styles.yml
similarity index 100%
rename from config/merged/section_style.yaml
rename to config/merged/section_styles.yml
diff --git a/lib/merged.rb b/lib/merged.rb
index baba471..515f720 100644
--- a/lib/merged.rb
+++ b/lib/merged.rb
@@ -4,11 +4,10 @@ require "merged/engine"
 module Merged
 
   def self.load_data
-    ["card_style" , "section_style"].each do |kind|
-      # loading egine definitions first, can be overriden
-      load_from kind , Engine.root.join("config/merged/#{kind}.yaml")
-    end
-    Option.load
+    # pre-load data
+    Option.all
+    CardStyle.all
+    SectionStyle.all
     Page.load_pages
     Image.load_images
   end
diff --git a/spec/models/merged/card_style_spec.rb b/spec/models/merged/card_style_spec.rb
index 97bcd63..ba2316f 100644
--- a/spec/models/merged/card_style_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/merged/card_style_spec.rb
@@ -2,12 +2,16 @@ require 'rails_helper'
 
 module Merged
   RSpec.describe CardStyle, type: :model do
-    let(:first_card) {Style.cards.first}
+    let(:first_card) {CardStyle.all.first}
 
-    it "has Style.cards" do
-      expect(CardStyle.cards.class).to be Hash
-      expect(CardStyle.cards.length).to be 5
+    it "has .all" do
+      expect(CardStyle.all.length).to be 5
     end
 
+    it "has fields" do
+      expect(first_card.fields.class).to be Array
+      expect(first_card.fields.length).to be 2
+      expect(first_card.fields.first).to eq "header"
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/models/merged/section_style_spec.rb b/spec/models/merged/section_style_spec.rb
index 3d3c130..c5c8a09 100644
--- a/spec/models/merged/section_style_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/merged/section_style_spec.rb
@@ -2,18 +2,17 @@ require 'rails_helper'
 
 module Merged
   RSpec.describe SectionStyle, type: :model do
-    let(:first_section) {SectionStyle.sections.first}
+    let(:first_section) {SectionStyle.all.first}
 
     it "has Style.sections" do
-      expect(SectionStyle.sections.class).to be Hash
-      expect(SectionStyle.sections.length).to be 7
+      expect(SectionStyle.all.length).to be 7
     end
     it "Finds section by template" do
-      spacer = SectionStyle.sections["section_spacer"]
+      spacer = SectionStyle.find_by_template("section_spacer")
       expect(spacer).not_to eq nil
     end
     it "Spacer has no fields" do
-      spacer = SectionStyle.sections["section_spacer"]
+      spacer = SectionStyle.find_by_template("section_spacer")
       expect(spacer.fields).to be nil
     end