Romance Is Not Just Boyfriends. It Is How I Treat My Life.
- lthornton6
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
February comes with all the usual noise. Hearts and roses. Glittery cards. Couples smiling on every commercial as they have never argued over the thermostat. And for the longest time, I thought romance belonged to people in relationships. I thought love had to look a certain way. Roses. Chocolates. Matching pajamas on Instagram. But somewhere along the way, I learned something softer and truer. Romance is not just about boyfriends. It's how I treat my life.
And the real reason I started my blog is simple. I needed to romanticize my life. Some days I am caught between mourning the should have beens and learning to love the life that is still unfolding. There is a strange ache in that, knowing what could have been and still choosing to find joy in what is. There are nights when I sit in bed, phone screen too bright and heart too heavy, scrolling through everyone else’s highlight reels and wondering why mine does not look like that. The world keeps saying just be grateful, but gratitude is not a switch you flip. It is a practice you build.
That is when I think about starting a gratitude jar, writing down little blessings, and saving them for later when life feels heavy. Or maybe keeping a war room journal, a faith-filled space to pour out prayers, battles, and breakthroughs, and see how far God has carried me. But honestly, writing is already my way of saving the moments that matter. My jar, my journal, my proof that there is beauty tucked inside the ordinary. So instead of glass and paper, I built Sassy Frass with Class. A space where gratitude meets grit, where storytelling becomes healing, where I can say this is hard, but it is still beautiful. Every post here is a note to my future self, a reminder of what I have survived, what I am learning, and what still makes me smile even on the hard days.
And even in February, that spirit carries me. It is in the quiet moment before I pray, not because I am trying to be fancy, but because I want to give God my full attention for a second. It is the first sip of coffee that reminds me I made it through yesterday. It is in the warm shower where I whisper a thank You for another day. That is romance, too.
It is in the way I dress up sometimes, with no audience at all. It is in the way I take care of my hair, even the tiny shaved section that feels like my own secret sensory joy. It is in soft sweaters, good soups, my planner pages, sticker sheets, and the comfort shows that make my world feel gentle. These small things make life feel deliberate, calm, and a little magical.
Romance shows up in the way I care for my voice. My AAC is not just a tool. It is a part of who I am. When I update it or change a phrase to something that sounds more like me, that is romantic in its own way. It is honoring the voice God gave me, even if it comes through a screen. That is its own love story.
And honestly, this is why this whole vibe fits February. It keeps me in Hot Girl Winter mode, not Valentine's pressure. February does not have to be all romance and roses. Sometimes it is about finding your footing again, choosing yourself in small ways, noticing joy in corners you used to overlook. Feeling comfortable in your own skin is its own kind of love story.
Maybe that is the beauty of all of this. I do not have to fit into one version of womanhood. I can be soft or strong, playful or grounded, tired or grateful. I can hold joy and pain in the same hand. I can be healing and hurting, growing and resting, broken and blessed, all at once. Gratitude is not pretending everything is perfect. It is saying thank You anyway, for the detours, the delays, the lessons, and the grace that carried me through every one of them.
So here is my note to my February self. Keep showing up. Keep telling your story. Keep finding the sacred in the simple. One day, you will look back and see how far God pulled you, even in the months that felt quiet or ordinary.
Still growing. Still grateful. Still choosing beauty on purpose.
Still Sassy Frass with Class
I really loved this. I found myself nodding the whole way through because so much of it resonates with me too. That line about being caught between mourning the “should have beens” and learning to love the life that’s still unfolding—that tension is real, and you named it so honestly.
I also love how you said gratitude isn’t a switch you flip, but a practice you build. That hit deep. From the outside, people often tell us to “just be grateful,” without realizing how much work it actually takes to hold gratitude alongside loss, pain, and limitation. The way you describe gratitude meeting grit feels exactly right—choosing thankfulness not because life is easy, but because it’s still meaningful.
Your idea of romanticizing…