Cityline Featured Blogger: Amanda from Natural Mommie

We love reading about all the parts of this mom's life, from parenting to fitness to renovating her old farmhouse.

There are so many fabulous bloggers out there, and we want to highlight them on Cityline.ca. We’ll be profiling different lifestyle bloggers from month to month — they might write about food, fashion, beauty, décor, parenting, entertaining, gardening, you get the idea! For May 2014, we’re putting the spotlight on mommy blogger Amanda from Natural Mommie. Run by Amanda Robinson, we love reading about all the parts of this mom’s life, from parenting to fitness to renovating her old farmhouse. Here’s our Q&A with Amanda:

about-me-porch-300When did you start Natural Mommie and what was your inspiration behind the blog? How did you come up with your blog’s name?

I started Natural Mommie in 2009 shortly after I had my first baby. Natural Mommie was a space where I could share the eco-friendly lifestyle I loved while living in a small town in what felt like the middle of nowhere, Northern Alberta! My blog organically grew into a fantastic community of moms who, like me, are trying to balance being a modern mom while living a green(er) lifestyle.  I’m a mommie living the natural lifestyle so the name is a perfect fit!

On your blog you write a range of different posts, sharing everything from DIYs and recipes, fitness and health tips, and stories about your own family. What do you like about writing a variety of types of posts, and what’s your favourite type of post to write?

Originally when I began Natural Mommie there was a heavy focus on reviewing green products, but over the years I was always getting emails from moms asking me, “What sort of makeup do you use?”, “How did you refinish your dining table?”, “How do you stay healthy and fit as a busy mom?”. I knew my readers wanted to know more and I was moving towards more of a  “lifestyle” blog where I could share snippets of my day whether it was something related to fitness, healthy food, mothering or renovating my old farmhouse. Natural Mommie really reflects what’s going on in my home at any given time. Sometimes it’s green smoothies, sometimes it’s turning a laundry room into a bedroom! My blog combined with Instagram has become an amazing community and I love how sharing one photo can spark a great conversation.

What do you hope readers get from visiting your blog?

I’ve always wanted my blog to be a place of inspiration. A place where someone could read one of my blog posts and think to herself, “I can do that too!” or  “Amanda’s drinking kale green smoothies? Maybe it’s not so bad!” Over the past several months I’ve been blogging about the experience of leaving the city and moving to the country. We bought an old farm with lots of fixer-upper projects and my readers are constantly telling me how amazing it is that I could do that and they’d love to be brave enough to do the same one day. The thing is, anyone can do it. It’s a little scary at first and it’s pushing yourself into something uncomfortable, but those situations are the ones that truly make us grow and work towards creating the life you want. And, really, it doesn’t have to be in the form of buying an old farm to fix up — it’s just about being brave and doing what you’ve always dreamed of. Maybe it’s going back to university, or starting your own business, or even changing your health and starting a mom’s fitness meet up.  Everything falls into place but you have to be willing to step out on a limb. Or, in my case, onto a tractor! I hope that by sharing my experiences others will feel inspired to get back to basics.

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Tell us about a post (or two!) that you’re particularly proud of and want to share with Cityline.ca readers.

One of the posts that I felt pure joy (and fear) while writing was From Zero to Twenty: The Day We Bought The Farm. We bought a 20-acre farm before we even put our house up for sale and were about to go through a major lifestyle change that felt so natural yet terrifying at the same time! And all the renovation before & after posts I’ve shared are definitely something to be proud of! They were a LOT of work!

Two other posts that are short, but come to mind are ones I wrote on Finding Joy  and Embracing My Role As Mom. And of course there’s all those posts I write late at night over a cup of tea that I haven’t yet found the courage to publish yet…those are likely some of my best ones!

What are some other blogs you love reading?

There are so many bloggers who I’m constantly inspired by! Kris Carr, Holly from In The Fun Lane, Joy from Joyous Health, Christine from Just Bella, Christina from The DIY Mommy, Tenille from Feisty Frugal & Fabulous, Sarah from Sarah M Style and Bethany from This Little Estate.

What’s your top advice for other bloggers?

My top advice is to really focus on what you love to write about, share yourself in an authentic, meaningful way, and be kind! There’s enough room for everyone and it’s not a race. Don’t feel like you have to blog a “certain” way or get stuck in one particular niche. People grow and change and so do blogs, but you’ll see your audience continue to expand organically if you’re genuine. And one last thing — don’t get hung up with being on top of ALL the social media platforms. I’m an Instagram gal but maybe Facebook is more your thing! Either way, just pick one (or two) and maintain them well.

We want to hear from you! Do you know a blogger we should feature on Cityline.ca? Maybe it’s you! Email us at submissions@cityline.ca and include “Cityline Featured Blogger” in the subject line. And don’t forget to include a link to the blog! Look forward to hearing from you!