Our annual awards luncheon was a lot of fun and we got to reminisce about the past year and look forward to the year ahead. We also got to recognize some truly amazing individuals who did some truly amazing things this year. I don’t talk a lot about my work here on the blog both because I keep things mostly anonymous here, and also because a lot of what I do is protected, so I can’t share details. What I can tell you is that I work for a company that provides support and services to individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD). I oversee our local office.

Everyone that we recognized was truly deserving of the award. And this year, we awarded more awards than ever! Not only did we honor the leaders, but we also recognized multiple of our front-line workers who work tirelessly with the individuals we support.

In addition to the awards, we also had a slide show with lots of photos from events we have held throughout the year in various regions. We also had a raffle with some pretty cool prizes (all of which included a Yeti cooler).

I was incredibly happy to see my office featured prominently in the photos this year, as well as one of my team members winning a raffle prize. Oh, and I did too! She won the wellness gift collection which included a Yeti cooler bag, yoga mat, earphones, candles, and other items. I won the home gift collection which included a Yeti Tundra cooler, a Roomba, a Ruggable Rug, a Bonsai tree and a few other items as well. We were a very excited table because our names were called back to back.

As for the awards, I think each of the divisions of service were represented pretty fairly, which was really nice. Two of my peers won big awards (a special award because we’re celebrating our 35th year and manager of the year). Another person that I work closely with won a special award for growing services.

I won’t lie, I was a little disappointed as the afternoon went on and no one from my immediate team had won anything. I have a truly fantastic team that works for me and they are all deserving. And historically, our office had never won an award. That is until the last award of the day… the biggest award… our award for someone who exemplifies our mission was announced. No one was more blown away than I was when my name was called.

That was a few hours ago as I’m writing this and I still can’t believe it! I am incredibly honored and humbled. And it reinforces for me that I am where I am meant to be, doing the work that I’m meant to be doing.

This has been a great start to my vacation and birthday celebrations, I have to tell you!