diff --git a/lib/RssBraider.js b/lib/RssBraider.js
index 2e656a6..d6970eb 100644
--- a/lib/RssBraider.js
+++ b/lib/RssBraider.js
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 // process feed-reader item into node-rss item
-
 var FeedParser  = require('feedparser'),
     bunyan      = require('bunyan'),
     _           = require('lodash'),
@@ -11,16 +10,14 @@ var FeedParser  = require('feedparser'),
 var logger;
 var RssBraider = function (options) {
     this.feeds = options.feeds || null;
-    this.logger = logger = options.logger || bunyan.createLogger({name: 'rss-braider'});
+    this.logger = options.logger || bunyan.createLogger({name: 'rss-braider'});
     this.indent = options.indent || "    ";
     this.dedupe_fields = options.dedupe_fields || []; // The fields to use to identify duplicate articles
     this.date_sort_order = options.date_sort_order || "desc";
+
     this.plugins_directories = options.plugins_directories || [];
-    // load plugins from plugins folder
-    // TODO, specify plugins location
     this.plugins = {};
     this.loadPlugins();
-
 };
 
 // loadup self.plugins with the plugin functions
@@ -28,7 +25,7 @@ RssBraider.prototype.loadPlugins = function () {
     var self = this;
 
     if (self.plugins_directories.length < 1) {
-        // logger.info("No plugins_directories specified. No plugins loaded.");
+        // self.logger.info("No plugins_directories specified. No plugins loaded.");
     }
     self.plugins_directories.forEach(function(path){
         // load up each file and assign it to the plugins
@@ -36,10 +33,10 @@ RssBraider.prototype.loadPlugins = function () {
         filenames.forEach(function(filename){
             var plugin_name = filename.replace(/.js$/, '');
             if (self.plugins[plugin_name]) {
-                logger.warn("Duplicate plugin name: ", plugin_name, "Overwriting with newer plugin");
+                self.logger.warn("Duplicate plugin name: ", plugin_name, "Overwriting with newer plugin");
             }
             self.plugins[plugin_name] = require(path + '/' + plugin_name);
-            // logger.info("plugin registered:", plugin_name);
+            // self.logger.info("plugin registered:", plugin_name);
         });
     });
 };
@@ -63,7 +60,7 @@ RssBraider.prototype.processFeed = function(feed_name, format, callback)
         feed = self.feeds[feed_name],
         feed_articles = [];
 
-    // logger.info("DEBUG processFeed: feed is set to " + feed_name);
+    // self.logger.info("DEBUG processFeed: feed is set to " + feed_name);
 
     if (!feed || !feed.sources || feed.sources.length < 1) {
         return callback("No definition for feed name: " + feed_name);
@@ -75,16 +72,16 @@ RssBraider.prototype.processFeed = function(feed_name, format, callback)
             file_path = source.file_path || null,
             source_articles = [];
 
-        // logger.debug("Requesting source:" + source.name + " at " + url + " for feed:" + feed_name);
+        // self.logger.debug("Requesting source:" + source.name + " at " + url + " for feed:" + feed_name);
         // todo: Check if source.file is set and set up a fs stream read
         var feedparser = new FeedParser();
         if (url) {
             var req = request(url);
 
-            // logger.info("request to", url);
+            // self.logger.info("request to", url);
 
             req.on('error', function (error) {
-                logger.error(error);
+                self.logger.error(error);
             });
 
             req.on('response', function (res) {
@@ -99,21 +96,20 @@ RssBraider.prototype.processFeed = function(feed_name, format, callback)
             var filestream = fs.createReadStream(file_path);
             filestream.pipe(feedparser);
         } else {
-            logger.error("url or file_path not defined for feed: " + source.name);
+            self.logger.error("url or file_path not defined for feed: " + source.name);
             return callback();
         }
 
         feedparser.on('error', function(error) {
-            logger.error("feedparser error:", error, "name:", source.name, "source:", source.feed_url);
+            self.logger.error("feedparser error:", error, "name:", source.name, "source:", source.feed_url);
         });
 
         // Collect the articles from this source
         feedparser.on('readable', function() {
-            // This is where the action is!
             var stream = this,
                 item;
 
-            while ( item = stream.read() ) {
+            while ( !!(item = stream.read()) ) {
                 if (source.feed_url) {
                     item.source_url = source.feed_url;
                 }
@@ -121,6 +117,8 @@ RssBraider.prototype.processFeed = function(feed_name, format, callback)
                 var article = self.processItem(item, source, feed_name);
                 if (article) {
                     source_articles.push(article);
+                } else {
+                    self.logger.debug("Empty article found in " + feed_name, item.title);
                 }
             }
         });
@@ -136,7 +134,7 @@ RssBraider.prototype.processFeed = function(feed_name, format, callback)
     },
     function(err){
         if (err) {
-            logger.error(err);
+            self.logger.error(err);
             return callback(err);
         } else {
             // Final Dedupe step and resort
@@ -166,11 +164,10 @@ RssBraider.prototype.processFeed = function(feed_name, format, callback)
                     ret_string = JSON.stringify(newfeed);
                     break;
                 case 'rss':
-                case 'xml':
                     ret_string = newfeed.xml(self.indent);
                     break;
                 default:
-                    logger.error("Unknown format:", format);
+                    self.logger.error("Unknown format:", format);
                     ret_string = "{}";
             }
 
@@ -183,8 +180,8 @@ RssBraider.prototype.processFeed = function(feed_name, format, callback)
 RssBraider.prototype.processItem = function (item, source, feed_name) {
     var self = this;
 
-    if (!item) {
-        logger.error("processItem: no item passed in");
+    if (!item || !source || !feed_name) {
+        self.logger.error("processItem: missing item, source, and/or feed_name");
         return null;
     }
     // Basics
@@ -201,8 +198,8 @@ RssBraider.prototype.processItem = function (item, source, feed_name) {
     };
 
     // Run the plugins specified by the "plugins" section of the
-    // feed config file to build out any custom elements or
-    // do transforms
+    // feed .js file to build out any custom elements or
+    // do transforms/filters
     itemOptions = self.runPlugins(item, itemOptions, source, feed_name);
 
     return itemOptions;
@@ -218,19 +215,15 @@ RssBraider.prototype.runPlugins = function (item, itemOptions, source, feed_name
     for (var i = 0; i < plugins_list.length; i++) {
         var plugin_name = plugins_list[i];
         if (self.plugins[plugin_name]) {
-            // logger.info("DEBUG runPlugins running " + plugin_name + " for item " + item.guid + " in feed: " + feed.meta.title);
             itemOptions = self.plugins[plugin_name](item, itemOptions, source);
         } else {
-            logger.error("A plugin named '" + plugin_name + "' hasn't been registered");
+            self.logger.error("A plugin named '" + plugin_name + "' hasn't been registered");
         }
 
-        // If itemOptions comes back null, skip this item
-        // as one of the plugins decided to toss it
+        // If itemOptions comes back null, skip this item as one of the plugins decided to toss it
         if (itemOptions === null) {
-            // logger.info("Plugin rejected item", plugin_name, item.guid, feed.meta.title);
+            self.logger.debug("Plugin '" + plugin_name + "' filtered out item: '" + item.title + "' from feed '" + feed.meta.title + "'");
             break;
-        } else {
-            // logger.info("Plugin completed", plugin_name, item.guid, feed.meta.title);
         }
     }
     return itemOptions;
diff --git a/test/index.js b/test/index.js
index 8cb0031..b5be5a3 100644
--- a/test/index.js
+++ b/test/index.js
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ test('filter all articles out using plugin', function(t) {
         plugins_directories     : [__dirname + '/../lib/example_plugins/']
     };
     var rss_braider = RssBraider.createClient(braider_options);
+    rss_braider.logger.level('info');
 
     rss_braider.processFeed('sample_feed', 'rss', function(err, data){
         if (err) {