Welcome!

You have stumbled across the online home of Brenda J. Burrell, which is chock full of awesome and getting better with each post. Find out more about Brenda:

At Work

I am the Technical Trainer for Computer Services at Missouri State University in Springfield, MO. I develop and conduct training sessions, create training and reference materials, facilitate the maintenance of training facilities, maintain a number of mission-critical websites, oversee publication of several newsletters, run a soon-to-be annual Banner Users Group conference, and on occasion am lucky enough to jet around the country to speak at other conferences on topics relating to training in a technical environment. I have a well-rounded educational and professional background that puts me in a good position to work well with both the technical people who make the stuff I train on, and the less-technical people I teach to use said stuff. Currently, I supervise three phenomenal student workers, who help make my job a joy. I can’t wait to see where their careers take them.

At Home

My gorgeous, intelligent, caring, fun husband, Ryan, and I were married on October 2009. He has shared both happy and dark times with me, and his friendship, love, respect, and trust have made me a better person than I could ever have hoped to be on my own. We bought a gorgeous house last summer, and have enjoyed growing our first vegetable garden this spring. I’m not sure what I did to deserve this happiness, but I’ll sure keep doing it, because life is awesome.

When I’m not busy boggling at how incredibly lucky I am to have Ryan in my life, I sew on a 1976 Kenmore sewing machine that belonged to my grandmother, Lois, and recently opened HappenstanceHandmade on Etsy to sell some of my handiwork.  I scrapbook, read, do yoga once in a while, have a passing interest in photography, and volunteer with a lovely young lady named Jessica through Big Brothers Big Sisters. I can play bass guitar, change the oil in my car, split an infinitive, and walk in four-inch heels, sometimes all in one day.

I have a sister whom I adore more than any sibling possibly could; she works at Barnes & Noble and that means you need to go buy some books! Our current obsessions: The Tudors and Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson novels. My mom works at a bank, and I pester her pretty much every day to move here to Springfield. I have awesome in-laws and I’m glad they like me enough to let me marry their Ryan. I babysit two little boys, Keegan and Kadence, on a fairly regular basis; their parents, Kyle and Lea Ann, are among my best friends. Add Preston and Traci into mix, and, well, “awesome” just happens. I have too many other friends to name each one here, but I love every one of them.

Online

This site was designed and implemented by Ryan Burrell based on a WordPress framework.