Yesterday morning I was pretty bummed out. We got up and got ready for church, got in the car, and then I realized I just wasn’t at all excited about it. Bummer.

No, not because I stayed up too late the night before or dislike going to church. It’s just because we don’t have a church home. Before we got married and moved away, both Hubs and I were used to the kind of church environment where everyone knows your name and you are involved and can really connect to the people there.

In the city while we are still searching for a church we both feel connected to, we walk in, sit down, shake hands with those around us during the greeting time, maybe get the name of one or two nearby attendees who are feeling especially bold. Then we sit through the service trying to sing songs we don’t know and not judge the pastor’s speaking ability too harshly on this one message. Then we get up at the end and walk out.

I know we could be doing more to introduce ourselves and make connections, but when we don’t feel connected to the service, I just get a bit discouraged thinking “what’s the point of trying to remember these names if we don’t think this church is the one?” Plus, is it wrong that I want people to be more friendly, open, and welcoming to new comers?

(And let me say that one Sunday we went to a church where it was the opposite and we were the only visitors in a small congregation where we felt way too much pressure to return the next week and that everyone was starring at us the whole time. So I guess it works both ways.)

And I know it’s partly our fault for choosing a house in an area where we literally knew no one. Not a single person. No friends are close enough to invite us to church with them. No family to join in on Sunday services with.

It’s just a long process that seems to make me more frustrated each week. But, the point of this post wasn’t to complain about finding a church, it was to talk about how I ended up getting cheered up yesterday.

There’s nothing like a little shopping to cure the saltiness right out of my day. (Which is ironic because curing and saltiness have totally different meanings in regard to ham–sorry–country girl rambling there…)

So Hubs and I went out to a quick (cheap) lunch, and started making some returns on some Christmas gifts that didn’t fit or weren’t exactly right. (I accidentally picked up a short sleeve t-shirt off the display when I had specifically wanted the long sleeve version for him, etc.) Plus, we had a few items we were specifically looking for that we had been a little lazy to go out and buy.

Let’s just say that this pile of bounty sure made me smile by the end of the afternoon:

See these? They will spread happiness for days, months, and years to come when they find their way into their place of honor in our current kitchen cabinets of doom. (Ok, they aren’t that bad, but they certainly need the added storage functionality.)

And how about this for some store-bought happiness? A smell a project coming on!

And yes, we were as budget conscious as could be–none of this will be breaking our bank, especially since we used gift cards, store credits, coupons, and of course, clearance sales.

Seriously, all this stuff was technically free since we used store credit and an old gift card (from our wedding! Yikes! Good thing they don’t expire!)

Three cheers for (free) chocolate!

Three more cheers for on-sale shoes (for Hubs) and other random clothing items we’ve been wanting and finally found on sale.

Side note: I realized yesterday that I haven’t purchased any clothing for myself that wasn’t on sale or clearance in probably 2 years or more…yes, this includes my wedding dress!

If you ask Hubs, he’ll disagree, but I still say there’s nothing like an afternoon of shopping and finding something awesome on 75% off clearance to cheer you up on a bummed out day. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with spending our evening at home eating homemade taco salads and butter yellow cake with chocolate frosting to cheer me up either. We’ll call it a tie between those two methods of cheering up this sometimes-salty wife.

What about you? What’s your favorite way to cheer up on a bummed-out day? And if it’s retail therapy you love, what stores top your list? I would normally say thrift stores are my favorite, but on Sundays, sometimes they’re closed.