The My Outdoorsy Mom Podcast
The My Outdoorsy Mom Podcast is your go-to space for real-life motherhood, nature play, outdoor parenting, and raising confident kids through everyday adventures.
I’m your host, Julianne Nienberg—a mom of three, backyard adventure enthusiast, and your go-to gal for helping you get outside and make meaningful memories with your kids.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the pressure to be a “perfect” parent, this show is for you.
Here, we ditch the guilt and lean into the kind of simple, soul-filling time outdoors that works for busy, real-life families—no Pinterest-worthy nature crafts required.
Each week, I’ll bring you conversations about motherhood, nature play, travel, entrepreneurship, and all the messy, magical moments in between.
You’ll hear from fellow moms, outdoor educators, small business owners, and everyday women who are building a life connected to the rhythms of the seasons and the joy of unstructured outdoor time.
Expect practical tips, honest stories, and encouragement that feels like chatting with your outdoorsy best friend over coffee—because that’s what this space is all about.
Whether you’re raising wild little explorers, growing a business during nap time, or just trying to survive dinner hour without losing your mind—I see you.
And I’m here to remind you that getting outside doesn’t have to be complicated. Nature meets you wherever your feet are.
So grab your coffee, toss some snacks in your bag, and let’s make some memories together.
This is The My Outdoorsy Mom Podcast—and I’m so glad you’re here.
The My Outdoorsy Mom Podcast
EP 26: The October R.E.P.O.R.T
This week’s solo episode is short, sweet, and off-the-cuff. With two sick kids and a full plate, Julianne brings back one of your favorite formats — the monthly R.E.P.O.R.T. — where she shares what she’s been Reading, Eating, Playing, Obsessing over, Recommending, and Treating herself to lately.
Mentioned in this episode:
- The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
- Free to Fly by Nicole Runyon
- Peter Thomas Roth Brightening Eye Patches
- Omnilux LED Mask
- Hue (Hu) Dark Chocolate
- Walking pad
- Forrest Frank music
Where you can find me:
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Hello and welcome back to the My Outdoorsy Mom podcast. This is going to be a quick kind of off the cuff episode for me because I've got two sick kiddos at home and I wasn't able to prep for this solo episode the way I would have liked to last week because I was solo parenting and just life-ing in general. But I wanted to bring back one of my favorite podcast formats which is the monthly report. And if you don't know what that is,
It's where I give you a rundown of everything I've been reading, eating, playing, obsessing over, recommending and treating. So let's get to it, shall we? Reading, R is for reading. OK, I'm going to give two books that I've been reading. You could take it as a recommendation. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah and Free to Fly by Nicole Runyon. Friends, Kristin Hannah's books are not for the faint of heart.
and the great alone delivers another tearjerker as the characters take you through the bitter cold, majestic and beautiful landscape that is Alaska. my goodness, this storyline. First of all, all of her storylines, at least of the books I've read, which include the women, the four winds and this one. They just make you sob. And if you're not sobbing, I don't know what to tell you. Read it. You'll be on an emotional roller coaster, but it's worth it. Free to Fly written by Nicole Vrenyon.
and fellow Michigander is one that all parents must read. Nicole does not sugarcoat the issues plaguing our kids today, but instead of making you feel terrible about parenting choices, she provides hope and a way to turn things around. I actually interviewed her for the podcast last week, so stay tuned. That episode is going to be a good one. Eating. I don't have a particular recipe on hand, but I have implemented a four to 430
dinner and it's been working out really well for our family. I started this at the end of summer and after school my kids would usually come home from school starving and wanting to raid the pantry. I really try to reserve those snacks for school lunches and I realized that not everyone can implement such an early dinner but maybe you load up and make that after school snack a hearty one with protein rich snacks instead. So each kid typically has a sports practice two to three nights out of the week but they're never all at once
So we aim to eat before the evening practice. And if they're hungry after, they'll get that same meal again with maybe a banana or something. Also, I've been really into those Hue or who, however you say it, dark chocolate bars. They're always a nice sweet treat at the end of the day. Playing, okay, two takes on this. I am playing paddle ball, as in I'm taking weekly clinics. I'd like to get better at racket sports because...
I think they're so much fun. And last year we joined a club that has a great rackets program. And so I started with beginner tennis clinics. Paddle ball is played in the winter time and it's such a fun way to be outside during a Michigan winter. All right, pivoting to playing music. We've been listening to a lot of Forrest Frank. I find him to be biblically sound and I love that I can jam out to it with my kids. Obsessing. Okay, this one was a tough, tough one for me.
What have I been obsessing over? OK. This one may appeal to all my slightly high functioning ADHD moms. I've never in my life thought I was ADHD until I started to take a closer look at some of my tendencies and behaviors that I motherhood has only exacerbated. I've never sought a diagnosis. I've never seen a medical professional, but I have noticed that when I do work on my walking pad with music blaring in my headphones,
I'm so much more zoned in. Like computer work done sitting down typically takes me hours and multiple days. can knock out like computer work done sitting down that typically takes me hours and multiple days. I can knock it out in half the time when I'm plugged in walking and listening to music. I don't know. I mean, as a result, I've gained a lot more empathy for my sensory seeking child.
Recommending. Okay, I recommended two books earlier, but this is a little bit different. I'm going to go ahead and recommend that walking pad I was talking about, because if you live in a cold weather state, winter is coming. I love my walks in the fall and early spring, but some days it's tough to get out there. So this walking pad is perfect. It doesn't have a huge footprint and it's easy to tuck away. I've seen it on Amazon for less than $100. My mom liked mine so much that I bought her
Lastly, tea is for treating. ⁓ OK, guys, I am on a skin care journey. I actually have decent skin naturally. Thank you, good genes. But I am approaching 40 and I'm taking things a lot more seriously. My goal is to avoid fillers or anything like that and to try to use more natural or more holistic products. And two things I treat myself to every day. OK, one are these Peter Roth brightening Peter Thomas Roth brightening eye patches.
and my Omnilux LED mask. The mask has literally helped improve the texture and tone of my skin within two weeks. But the thing is, of course, like with anything, you have to be on top of it and stay consistent. I will link these two products in the show notes. I've seen such a difference when I use the LED mask five days a week, just for 10 minutes. And the Peter Thomas Roth brightening eye patches, I keep them in the fridge and I pop them on my under eyes.
during my breakfast routine with the kids and then when they leave for school, I take them off and it's like a nice little cooling effect that it has on my under eyes. All right, friends, I know that wasn't very outdoorsy focused, but I wanted to share a little bit more of my day to day. And before I sign off, of course, I have to leave you with an outdoorsy challenge. So my outdoorsy challenge to you, mom, is to try grounding this week, as in go outside in your bare feet, touch the earth, touch the soil.
I started doing this late summer and if nothing else, it got me outside for five to 10 minutes in a meditative posture. All right, that's all. I'll see you back here next week