diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9a3c8fb..bbc5f74 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -43,7 +43,9 @@ metnet3 = MetNet3(
         omo_wind_component_y = 256,
         omo_wind_direction = 180
     ),
-    hrrr_loss_weight = 10
+    hrrr_loss_weight = 10,
+    hrrr_norm_strategy = 'sync_batchnorm',  # this would use a sync batchnorm to normalize the input hrrr and target, without having to precalculate the mean and variance of the hrrr dataset per channel
+    hrrr_norm_statistics = None             # you can also also set `hrrr_norm_strategy = "precalculated"` and pass in the mean and variance as shape `(2, 617)` through this keyword argument
 )
 
 # inputs
@@ -107,8 +109,8 @@ surface_preds, hrrr_pred, precipitation_preds = metnet3(
 - [x] auto-handle normalization across all the channels of the HRRR by tracking a running mean and variance of targets during training (using sync batchnorm as hack)
 - [x] allow researcher to pass in their own normalization variables for HRRR
 - [x] build all the inputs to spec, also make sure hrrr input is normalized, offer option to unnormalize hrrr predictions
+- [x] make sure model can be easily saved and loaded, with different ways of handling hrrr norm
 
-- [ ] make sure model can be easily saved and loaded, with different ways of handling hrrr norm
 - [ ] figure out the topological embedding, consult a neural weather researcher
 
 ## Citations
diff --git a/metnet3_pytorch/metnet3_pytorch.py b/metnet3_pytorch/metnet3_pytorch.py
index e0f5c92..7a0af9c 100644
--- a/metnet3_pytorch/metnet3_pytorch.py
+++ b/metnet3_pytorch/metnet3_pytorch.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from pathlib import Path
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 from functools import partial
 from collections import namedtuple
@@ -13,7 +14,9 @@
 from einops.layers.torch import Rearrange, Reduce
 
 from beartype import beartype
-from beartype.typing import Tuple, Union, List, Optional, Dict
+from beartype.typing import Tuple, Union, List, Optional, Dict, Literal
+
+import pickle
 
 # helpers
 
@@ -609,6 +612,11 @@ def __init__(
             omo_wind_component_y = 256,
             omo_wind_direction = 180
         ),
+        hrrr_norm_strategy: Union[
+            Literal['none'],
+            Literal['precalculated'],
+            Literal['sync_batchnorm']
+        ] = 'none',
         hrrr_channels = 617,
         hrrr_norm_statistics: Optional[Tensor] = None,
         hrrr_loss_weight = 10,
@@ -616,6 +624,15 @@ def __init__(
         resnet_block_depth = 2,
     ):
         super().__init__()
+
+        # for autosaving the config
+
+        _locals = locals()
+        _locals.pop('self', None)
+        _locals.pop('__class__', None)
+        _locals.pop('hrrr_norm_statistics', None)
+        self._configs = pickle.dumps(_locals)
+
         self.hrrr_input_2496_shape = (hrrr_channels, input_spatial_size, input_spatial_size)
         self.input_2496_shape = (input_2496_channels, input_spatial_size, input_spatial_size)
         self.input_4996_shape = (input_4996_channels, input_spatial_size, input_spatial_size)
@@ -732,15 +749,60 @@ def __init__(
 
         self.hrrr_loss_weight = hrrr_loss_weight / hrrr_channels
 
-        self.has_hrrr_norm_statistics = exists(hrrr_norm_statistics)
+        self.mse_loss_scaler = LossScaler()
+
+        # norm statistics
 
-        if self.has_hrrr_norm_statistics:
-            assert hrrr_norm_statistics.shape == (2, hrrr_channels), f'normalization statistics must be of shape (2, {normed_hrrr_target}), containing mean and variance of each target calculated from the dataset'
+        default_hrrr_statistics = torch.empty((2, hrrr_channels), dtype = torch.float32)
+
+        if hrrr_norm_strategy == 'none':
+            self.register_buffer('hrrr_norm_statistics', default_hrrr_statistics, persistent = False)
+
+        elif hrrr_norm_strategy == 'precalculated':
+            assert exists(hrrr_norm_statistics), 'hrrr_norm_statistics must be passed in, if normalizing input hrrr as well as target with precalculated dataset mean and variance'
+            assert hrrr_norm_statistics.shape == (2, hrrr_channels), f'normalization statistics must be of shape (2, {hrrr_channels}), containing mean and variance of each target calculated from the dataset'
             self.register_buffer('hrrr_norm_statistics', hrrr_norm_statistics)
-        else:
+
+        elif hrrr_norm_strategy == 'sync_batchnorm':
+            self.register_buffer('hrrr_norm_statistics', default_hrrr_statistics, persistent = False)
             self.batchnorm_hrrr = MaybeSyncBatchnorm2d()(hrrr_channels, affine = False)
 
-        self.mse_loss_scaler = LossScaler()
+        self.hrrr_norm_strategy = hrrr_norm_strategy
+
+    @classmethod
+    def init_and_load_from(cls, path, strict = True):
+        path = Path(path)
+        assert path.exists()
+        pkg = torch.load(str(path), map_location = 'cpu')
+
+        assert 'config' in pkg, 'model configs were not found in this saved checkpoint'
+
+        config = pickle.loads(pkg['config'])
+        tokenizer = cls(**config)
+        tokenizer.load(path, strict = strict)
+        return tokenizer
+
+    def save(self, path, overwrite = True):
+        path = Path(path)
+        assert overwrite or not path.exists(), f'{str(path)} already exists'
+
+        pkg = dict(
+            model_state_dict = self.state_dict(),
+            config = self._configs
+        )
+
+        torch.save(pkg, str(path))
+
+    def load(self, path, strict = True):
+        path = Path(path)
+        assert path.exists()
+
+        pkg = torch.load(str(path))
+        state_dict = pkg.get('model_state_dict')
+
+        assert exists(state_dict)
+
+        self.load_state_dict(state_dict, strict = strict)
 
     @beartype
     def forward(
@@ -763,9 +825,9 @@ def forward(
         assert input_2496.shape[1:] == self.input_2496_shape
         assert input_4996.shape[1:] == self.input_4996_shape
 
-        # normalize HRRR input and target as needed
+        # normalize HRRR input and target, if needed
 
-        if self.has_hrrr_norm_statistics:
+        if self.hrrr_norm_strategy == 'precalculated':
             mean, variance = self.hrrr_norm_statistics
             mean = rearrange(mean, 'c -> c 1 1')
             variance = rearrange(variance, 'c -> c 1 1')
@@ -776,7 +838,7 @@ def forward(
             if exists(hrrr_target):
                 normed_hrrr_target = (hrrr_target - mean) * inv_std
 
-        else:
+        elif self.hrrr_norm_strategy == 'sync_batchnorm':
             # use a batchnorm to normalize each channel to mean zero and unit variance
 
             with freeze_batchnorm(self.batchnorm_hrrr) as frozen_batchnorm:
@@ -785,6 +847,12 @@ def forward(
                 if exists(hrrr_target):
                     normed_hrrr_target = frozen_batchnorm(hrrr_target)
 
+        elif self.hrrr_norm_strategy == 'none':
+            normed_hrrr_input = hrrr_input_2496
+
+            if exists(hrrr_target):
+                normed_hrrr_target = hrrr_target
+
         # main network
 
         cond = self.lead_time_embedding(lead_times)
@@ -899,7 +967,7 @@ def forward(
 
         # update hrrr normalization statistics, if using batchnorm way
 
-        if not self.has_hrrr_norm_statistics and self.training:
+        if self.training and self.hrrr_norm_strategy == 'sync_batchnorm':
             _ = self.batchnorm_hrrr(hrrr_target)
 
         # total loss
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 0c0a22e..4f6e21b 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 setup(
   name = 'metnet3-pytorch',
   packages = find_packages(exclude=[]),
-  version = '0.0.9',
+  version = '0.0.11',
   license='MIT',
   description = 'MetNet 3 - Pytorch',
   author = 'Phil Wang',