yo my people. upon request, i'm putting the link to the personality test on my blog so you guys can explore the depths of your being.

feel free to check it out. it will probably take 20 minutes to answer all of the questions, but a box of wonder will be opened about yourself that you didn't even know existed. if that sentence is hard to make sense of--well, it should be. that OBVIOUSLY means that you don't know yourself which means that you should take this test.

be sure to let me know your results. http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm.

(disclaimer: i would've just put this as a link with a word, but it seems that the link icon is disagreeing with me.)

i think i definitely need to wait about a week between posts. it seems that you guys, especially my family, get bored and then decide to go crazy in the comment section.

so this past weekend i was in middleofnowhere wales at cefn lea for liverpool city cu's houseparty. it was a really good weekend, although i'm still on the hurt for sleep.

lauren and rachel, i need for you to know that i'm so tired that my left eye has been twitching. you know what that means! time to bust out the eye patch. sorry that those 3 sentences were only directed to two people, but a worthwhile tidbit of info.

so funny story of the weekend?

before we even got on the buses to leave, our crew (9 of us) and cu people (about 5 of them) were all on one bus with all of our luggage which was quite chaotic. the bus was stuffy, crowded, and jerky, and i was ready to sprint off of it as soon as we hit our stop.

since we had so much luggage though, it took us a bit so we're standing around our stuff starting to gather it up to make the walk up to campus and we notice a bag that hasn't been claimed.

"is this someone's bag?"

we all stand and stare down at it. i decide to check the tag, and all it says is, "Melissa I."
we don't know any melissa's. we've realized we've hijacked someone's bag who is probably heading for a train at lime street station. and noooow we're feeling A#1 a little bit jerky B#2 a little bit idiotic and C#3 a little bit dumbfounded as to what we should do.

so we debate, will she get down to the lime street stop, only two stops away and notice her bag is gone and put the pieces together? so should we wait? should we stop the next arriva and give the bag to the driver and ask him to take it back to arriva headquarters (if that even exists)? should we hop in a taxi and try to chase down the bus? or should we just call arriva and find out what they think is best? these were all suggestions.

finally as andy begins to call arriva (he first got the wrong number), we see a very concerned looking girl rushing up the street who upon approaching us says, "were you just on the 74?"

i say, "yes, is this your bag? we're so sorry!"

she then grabs it and mutters the mother of all obscenties and walks away.

it's not really THAT funny. if i were in her situation, i would've maybe muttered something not very nice as well.

and that was the start of the weekend--but it turned out to be a good one--thanks to our russian bus driver, vladimir.

wow....

weirdly enough at 2am, i'm feeling this strange sensation that is driving me to burst out in song. what should i sing---oh what?

a little U2? maybe a little old school Queen? Oh, I don't know--maybe relive my days of yore and bust out into "Bye Bye Bye?"

no, no dear readers, i think i'll try something a little different--yes different, but a perfect fit for my sentiments on the day:

In old Ohio there's a team
That's known throughout the land
Eleven warriors brave and bold,
Whose fame will ever stand.
And when the ball goes over,
Our cheers will reach the sky,
Ohio Field will hear again
The Buckeye Battle Cry!

Drive, Drive on down the field,
Men of the scarlet and gray;
Don't let them through that line,
We've got to win this game today,
COME ON OHIO!
Smash through to victory,
We cheer you as you go!
Our honor defend we will fight
to the end for OHIO!

wow--that was pretty good--but i don't know that i'm through--

Fight the team across the field
Show them Ohio's here,
Set the earth reverberating
With a mighty cheer,
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Hit them hard and see how they fall,
Never let that team get the ball,
Hail, hail, the gang's all here,
So let's win that old conference now.

not understanding, sweet reader? oh, soon and very soon you will....all you need to know is that...

I LOVE IT WHEN THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY BEATS MICHIGAN!

it's especially delicious when it's done at the big house, enemy territory.

my friend, lindsay, is in country visiting me all of the way from minneapolis, minnesota this week(look it up on a map). i never know what to say when i have visitors from the states, does one still use the sweeping, "i have a friend in town?" or do would it be more accurate to state it as in country? i never know how to deal with that dilemma.

in other news, i've come to the conclusion that as much as we think that babies are so simple-minded with all of their laughing at repeated and silly facial gestures or as imbecilic as we might believe those ten year olds are for laughing at names like "Ben Bottom," (emphasis on the "Bottom" part of the name)--we really aren't much, if at all, more mature than them.

yesterday while walking to my one-to-one appointment with kath knapman, i was coming up on stopped traffic on allerton expecting that i would be able to cross, but suddenly as i'm standing there the light goes from red to yellow and opportunity is lost. a man in his 50's was sitting in a rather large truck and i caught his eye. before he could get that huge beast of a thing moving, he took the time to stick his tongue out at me and made a silly face and my response?

i thought it was hilarious. i gave him a big grin and a bit of a wave and giggled as i walked along. a silly face from a stranger had just completely brightened up a rather blaise day. and then i thought--that's how 8 month olds react to silly faces--and i, at 23, am entertained in the same exact way.

my theory was confirmed when after taking the myer-briggs personality test (i'm an ESFJ by the way), i was sitting with sarah as we began to look at what specialists had written about our personalities. sarah saw that one of the specialist's surname was "Butts." she thought it was hilarious. she made this knowing kind of face, and puckered her lips to try and stifle a laugh that would give away her very blatant adolescent mentality, but alas, she couldn't help herself and in a squeaky and amused voice she says, "His name is Butts!"

as intrigued i am at how easy it is to get a kid to laugh, i forget that those silly, simplistic, RIDICULOUS things are what taught us to laugh in the first place and that i'm really not as beyond an 8 month, or ten year old as i think.

come on--would you want YOUR last name to be Butts? Don't roll your eyes at me--be honest people. Imagine--Brit Butts.

i've been thinking about what i could post as an update, but i feel like nothing worth writing about has happened. the latest development: i'm coming down with a cold that's making me feel like someone is poking a pin through my retna into my sinus cavities and then curving it around up into my brain. it's an interesting cold.

ironically the highlight of my weekend has been something that i wasn't even able to participate in. my core group of friends from back home made a roadtrip (minus rachel and sarah) to nashville, tennessee to hang out and spend time together in jillian's new hometown. i think my friends are really great and equally hilarious, and since my digital camera is broken, i figured i'd post some of the pictures that they sent me, and wallow over my absence. that way for those of you who hear all about my life back home, now maybe you'll get to put some faces with names.

the best part of that weekend is that they made a brittney on a stick to carry around with them so i could be there in photo due to the face that i would've loved to be there in presence. you can look for britstick in the subway pic. i'm in the doritos bag.

you brits are probably assuming these gestures as rude--i assure you they're not, we hold up the peace sign and #2 whichever way we please--but while lauren and alli are not rude, don't be fooled because they ARE gansta.
in all seriousness, tara had a run in with a goat years ago that she's neither forgiven nor forgotten. pictured here, tara is seeking her revenge. brit on a stick flavored doritos anyone? if you can see that picture close enough, please don't ask me to explain--we'll just let you think what you like because it'd probably be better than an actual explanation.

glad you had fun in nashvegas girls. miss you. can't wait to see you for the culmination of holikrazy next month--especially can't wait to see your mom tara--here i come bev.

pretty typically while engaging in an evangelistic conversation i talk about how our works will never make us good enough to work our way into a right relationship with God. soooo, you know? i throw a couple of examples out there about the good things we might do, which usually includes the token, "walking old ladies across the street."

it was just an example--something that i had never done--but seems more of what a very moral and considerate human being in the 1940's would have done.

today my life has changed and i believe that i have joined the ranks of a dying breed--i walked an old lady across the street.

i got off of the bus on my way back from campus and began my usual trek up church road toward the homestead and there she was standing next to a lightpost. she's wearing very large eyeglasses, which also seem to be relatively thick and she turns to me and says:

Lady: Excuse me. Could you do me a favor?

Now, not that I don't enjoy little old ladies--but the size of her eyes--due to the glasses made me a liiiiiittle leery about saying yes. I'm not trying to be evil, just honest.

Brit: Uuuuuum, sure.

Lady: Could you please escort me across the street to those taxis?

Brit: You want me to walk you across the street?

Lady: yes please.

Brit: I can do that.

I walk over and this sweet little woman links arms with me and just starts asking me about my life as i begin to look up the street for coming cars--she also tells me that she knows someone from cleveland, ohio. she started to step out on the curb as a taxi is flying down the street and i pull her back and begin to put the pieces together as to why she asked me to walk with her.

now, i can finally say in evangelistic conversations with complete integrity that i, brittney lenhoff, have walked a little old lady across the street. i'm a little bit excited about that.

i'll keep this short. some of you know me. some of you don't i'm guessing. the following is a glimpse of everyday brittney. you can choose whether you want to roll your eyes or whether you find it endearing. i am what i am.

tonight i met with jo at the richmond for a one-to-one, but they had to close down their kitchen early, and so i wasn' t able to order any food. i knew that this thai restaurant was around the corner and so told jo that after we finished, i would just go there and pick something up. however, i wasn't sure if they did a takeaway of any sort. i don't know the rules of takeaway as they apply in this country. i just knew that we had ordered food to be via telephone to be picked up a month or so prior--but that doesn't necessarily mean you can just GO and order something and take it away, does it? anyway...

i walk into the restaurant and approach the thai woman. this is what i say:

"hi. so, i was wondering if it would be possible for me to order something, and to wait here while you fix it, and then to pay for it and take it away?"

she stares at me and says, "yeah...takeaway."

and i'm all, "oh right."

it didn't sound TOO bad in my head, but once the lady walked away, i looked at jo who was laughing so hard she was crying.

i guess i was hoping no one would noticed how odd the question seemed--it was the worst kind of odd question--across thai, british, and american cultures it made me look stupid.

okay another reader poll has come upon us.

once my good friend ed said, "brit, i think everyone should live out of their country for atleast five years." interesting, huh? and today i was talking...or more ::ahem:: emotionally vomitting on my friends maurice and hazel. and i thought WHAT BETTER THING TO DO AT THIS VERY MOMENT THAN A READER POLL. i am such a loser.

it's only november, i realize that. however, just for kicks, i was only curious about what your opinions are about what i should do for next year. keep in mind that i want to be exactly where i am RIGHT now but that i'm trying to narrow my options in the coming months. also, keep in mind that i'm not going to make a decision off of this poll because i genuinely have no idea and need to pray about it a lot more than i have, but i'm more curious about those who have been in a similar position to mine (aka recent graduates, career change, life change). so be unbias, if that's possible and off we are:

1. move to some obscure and random place (namely dubai) as an opportunity to see the world and to teach english to ESL students.

2. move back to ohio, possibly the columbus area, to do temporary work for a year until i can decide what the next step is (whether ministry or secular).

3. stay in england indefinitely (atleast for another year or two) and look for work in what i would like to do (atleast for now) involving community work with underprivileged people.

keep in mind that what i want most, even though i'm unsure of how biblical it is, is some stability next year and the ability to sort my head by being outside of ministry.

so post proudly, post anonymously, post with a pseudonym--just throw them out there. you can also add options, for my more creative readers, vincent and bo.

let the battle between brits and yanks commence...

maybe just by knowing me you can tell i'm a quirky girl, but there are things that i don't offer as public information concerning my idiosyncracies, but since i'm experiencing blogger's block and don't really feel like trying to muster up creativity to be sarcastic about guy fawke's night, then i'll cough up this information instead:

before i put on deoderant, every single time, i smell it. there's no reason, it's just something i do.

when i eat popcorn, i bite off and eat the hard kernel-y bits and then make a pile of the soft pieces. after i've finished the whole bag of kernel-y bits i eat the pile that i've accumulated.

i often wear long john's, flannels, whatever you call them underneath my clothes because i like to be really warm when i'm outside.

i often sleep with my window open, underneath a flannel blanket and duvet, because i like cool air when i'm inside.

i can't fall asleep unless i lay on my stomach because my arms are freakishly long (in my eyes anyway) and i can't get comfortable unless my arms are underneath me.

i can sit in the lotus position, push my whole body off of the ground while sitting, and then become a human swing.

i can hold a 4 foot skinny plastic candy cane up with my chin.

**an edition** i learned to dance by watching black entertainment television while growing up and so dance less like ashlee simpson and more like ciara.

that's all for now. some of you know me well enough where you could add to this list, so feel but be kind and don't embarass me---TREECE.

i am stinkin' EXHAUSTED. holy cow, angie and i talked to these two girls for a while today and one particular girl had MAJOR issues with God. sometimes i think these conversations are more difficult than someone just being apathetic because issues are so deeply rooted that i feel immobilized and unsure of what the first step is in pointing them towards truth. literally, an hour conversation can wipe me out for the rest of the day.

YIKES.....THAT WAS ROUGH.

however, when i was thinking of a concept to write a blog on this evening, that's not what i set out to write about.

oh no...today, ladies and gentlemen, is an official holiday in brittneyland. if you lived with me at any point during college you know what's coming...if not....you better recognize because you're about to have your mind altered for LIFE.

november 1st--is the start of what i like to refer to as "holikrazy." in the good ol' U.S. of A. we have thanksgiving at the end of november, and universally we have christmas in december and then new years. we yanks refer to this time as "THE holidays" as opposed to you brits who use this term without that definite article loosely referring to any time you get on a train and travel for over an hour (ooooh wicked burn--in love--in love).

why november 1st?

oh i'm so glad you asked, what a wonderful question. well, we all know it's sac-relig to start playing those melodic, catchy christmas ditties before spooky halloween, but one month of celebrating holiday fun between turkey day and noel festivities just doesn't seem sufficient--especially when the first snow in ohio is typically much, much sooner than that. plus, it's SO FUN TO DANCE to christmas tunes like you've completely lost your mind--which is my main reason for forming this holiday. i just want to dance a la Home Alone to "rocking around the christmas tree."

so now that you know that this is a holiday commemorating the beginning of the holiday season, i give you permission to play that mariah carey christmas cd that you dance to in the shower or that nsync album where justin's hair is fro-like and platinum. oh no, don't be ashamed because at christmas, it's okay to buy cheesy pop albums of artists we would never buy otherwise.

yes, my dear readers belt out "all i want for christmas is you," or "merry christmas and happy holidays." buy those christmas cards (but there's another rule--do NOT send them until week 4 of november). start making lists for what you'll purchase those christmas loves and the obligatory family members ::grin:: (reprimand me if you like mom--you haven't posted in a while).

i know that many of you will disagree, but there's already a bill in the house of representatives for universal passage and blazing the holikrazy trail by passing national bills earlier this year are holland, bolivia, and moldova. so don't fight holikrazy. don't fight it. christmas is next month.