Homeschooling... the beginning... WHY?!

I guess the best place to start is to ask why: "Sammee, why were you homeschooled??" The reasons could be put forth simply, in brief, but in the spirit of blogging I will make them much more elaborate, dramatic, and drawn-out.
I am trying to illustrate a transformation here: from homeschooled youngling to academic extraordinaire (I wish). To understand why and the transformation that occurred, you must understand my background.

I am the product of a conservative, fundamentalist Christian family in rural Pennsylvania.

Firstly, my parents wanted to have complete control of their childrens' education. They couldn't bear the thought of my sister and I tottering off to elementary school at the impressionable age of five, becoming indoctrinated by the evil public school system. My parents wanted complete freedom to meld our little minds however they deemed fit, without competition. I don't want to make my parents sound like ogres, but like any other conservative people, they thought they knew the Truth and that they would be sparing my sister and a lot of grief and hardship by making sure we knew the Truth immediately, without having to engage in any Truth-seeking of our own.
Secondly, my parents didn't want my sister and I to have a second-rate education. They were absolutely right in this regard, and I'm very grateful that they cared enough about our intellectual health to not send us to the school in our area. My parents value faith first, success second, and academics third: they are my parents' holy trinity of sorts. The school in our area was lacking in many respects, including funds, intelligent peers (I come from a rural community with a school that does not boast a high percentage of graduates attending college, let alone engaging in academic careers), creativity, and good teachers. Like most parents, mine thought that my sister and I (I have one sister, two years my junior) were extraordinary and very special, and we should be challenged and given every opportunity possible. My parents thought they could do that on their own better than the public school system.
Admittedly, the reasons why my parents decided to homeschool their only children are more numerious and labourious than I have time or patience for, but those are the two major reasons.