2014 will go down in my personal history as my first full year blogging my heart out about homeschooling. It was also my first year on The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew. I learned a lot about blogging, curriculum, and homeschooling through this experience. I received wonderful products in exchange for my honest opinion, expressed in a review on my blog. I met some amazing homeschooling moms and bloggers.

So why not re-apply for 2015? In all honesty, because I put too much on my plate in 2014. I re-evaluated my priorities and receiving free products is not one of them. I have chosen my curriculum very carefully and am blessed to be able to afford it. I know I will not do justice to these other educational products sent to me through the Review Crew because I will not focus on using them instead of my regular curriculum.

Besides, in my desire to accomplish so many other things besides homeschooling and keeping house, I can sign up for a few too many things. I am learning to simplify and do less. In fact, that’s my motto in 2015: Do less. In doing less, I can be more present in everything I do. I can derive more satisfaction and fulfillment out of the things I do do. And, hopefully, I can be more calm and peaceful and not feel so stressed out. 

Blogging on the Review Crew is a serious thing. One must be professional, meet deadlines, follow checklists and sign into an online forum every day for updates. One cannot not take it seriously. At least, I cannot. I take everything I sign up for seriously. So because I want to do my best in everything, I must limit the amount of ventures I take on.

I have no negatives to report about being on the Crew. On the contrary. I learned so much – and to me, that’s a positive. But I was too busy in 2014 and the Review took a lot of my time. There were other things, of course, and I am giving them up, too.

The Review Crew deserves my best efforts and I cannot give it my best efforts while trying to keep up with homeschooling and blogging and publishing the books I feel called to publish.

I will continue to be a faithful reader of their site and look forward to learning about the new and exciting products they have lined up for 2015. I encourage you to do the same. Maybe the time will come when I will feel called to get back on the Crew. But 2015 is not that year.

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