Fun Suprises ! #BlogwithaPurpose #RaisingCane

I heart Chicken, mostly when it’s cooked. Especially when it’s fried and served along side French fries.  So Raising Canes is my go to after a bad/long meeting, during a long week, if I’m happy or sad. It’s really good, hot food, quickly served and delicious every single time. Just thinking about the Cane’s sauce makes my mouth water. It’s not too far from my office and I admit to eating there more of than one likely should eat anything deep fried. However that’s between me and my doctor.

Back during the 2025 Christmas season I was on a mad dash to add to my Raising Canes’ plushy collection. See Raising Canes is more than just really GREAT Chicken Fingers (they also have amazing sweet tea), they also give back to local communities where their stores are located. Every year they partner with a Christmas movie and create special plushies of their beloved mascot “Cane” representing that movie. These are usually available from early November until supplies run out. When you buy one you are supporting animal welfare organizations with proceeds benefiting local rescues and shelters. Plus they are always freaking adorable.

Since the store opened near me, I have been able to participate in the Elf and National Lampoon Vacation celebrations. Over the years there have been more, I know for a fact I’ve seen Frosty the Snowman Cane puppies on the internet but I choose to look ahead not back (cause that was all I could find). The point is this is a yearly tradition that I love and fully support with my entire soul. I am always excited  to see what the new plush is going to be. I have the Christmas Tree Cane (from Elf) and the Clark Griswold Cane (from well if you don't know ... we can't be friends) and use them as my office décor during the holidays.

 The 2025 Plushy was for A Christmas Story … it featured Ralphie Cane (in his Christmas PJs), Fra-Gee-Lay Cane (complete with the leg lampshade and the fragile box), and the holy grail …. The Pink Bunny Cane. I was on the hunt for a Bunny Cane cause I LOVE Ralphie and his pink nightmare. This is my all time favorite Christmas movie. I even like the sequel (did you know there was a Christmas Story 2??) and of course I LOVED A Christmas Story Christmas a few years ago that deserves far more love than it gets.

Alas the Pink Bunny Cane alluded me at every turn. I tried online, I called other stores, it was sold out everywhere. I was not destined to get this to add to my collection. I almost got the Fra-Gee-Lay as a consolation prize when it was clear I wasn’t going to get one I really wanted but decided not too. I didn’t need another random plushy that would just collect dust. . . . I was a sad Marcy for a while but the holiday’s came and like Ralphie my mind shifted to other important matters.

Weeks passed and suddenly on my various social media feeds (yes I follow Rasin Cane’s on social media … what you don’t) was a Canes video with Peter Billingsly (AKA Ralphie) talking about the promotion. They raised over $500,000 for pet charities They also donated over 400,500 Cane’s Bikes and Helmets to the Boys and Girls club. Upon seeing this video I just happened to mention on one of the platforms that I tried so hard to get the Pink bunny but was not successful. A day or so later I get a DM from Rasin Canes asking for my address. I usually don’t participate in those things figuring they are a hoax but since I wasn’t giving credit card information I wrote them back. I thought it was ironic that I was answering the DM while eating at a Raising Cane after a particularly long week and a stupid meeting. It’s my happy place what else can I say.

TWO DAYS later, on a Sunday mind you, a giant box appeared on my front porch as I arrived home from Church. Guys. THEY SENT ME A GIANT PINK BUNNY CANE !!!!  He’s absolutely perfect I love him so much and while they already had my heart Rasing Canes has a customer for life. I love when places use their outreach for good. I love when they use their brand for good and Rasing Canes does it better than anyone I know. The way they don’t just open a store they open a location that is truly community driven. My store alone supports the local college and high school teams, has fund raiser nights for various local clubs and organizations. That support is staying within the area that supports the store and I love that the most. I can't wait to introduce him to his "younger brothers" ha! 

If you don’t have a Raising Canes near you, you will soon as they are adding new stores every year. If you do have one check them out the food is fantastic but what’s going on behind the scenes is even better and definately worthy of a #BlogWithAPurpose post 

Marcy

2025 Blessing Jar

So Christmas before last (2024) our “gift” at church (the church always gives the congregation a small gift usually on Christmas Eve, made by the youth) was a Blessing Jar. It’s a little plastic jar with a sticker on it that says “blessings.” The goal being that we’d write down our “blessings” throughout the year and drop it in the jar. On Christmas Eve we are to open said Jar and remember all the blessing we have received over the past year. I liked this idea and fully embraced it. I didn’t drop a blessing in every day but when something good would happen I’d write it out on the piece of paper, put the date and drop it in the Jar. Even tho I got my Jar on Christmas Eve I dropped in a few in December as little Olia made her way into the world. I also have blessings in the jar for January, Feburary, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, and well December. So I did better than I thought I did looking back on them.  

A few highlights include:

• 12-31-2024- Olia has been discharged, everyone is home and a family of three starts this next phase of this journey
• 1-18-2025 Got up super early and made our way to Pittsview to officially meet Olia in person. She is so adorable. She slept most of the day but was a trooper with being passed around so much.
• 1-21-2025 Mobile got 6-10 inches of honest to God Snow.
• 1-27-2025 I turned xx I’m blessed with family, friends and loved ones who reached out in various ways to say HBD. I keep thinking of my cousins Kevin who didn’t make it to this age (brain tumor). Am I living up to my potential ?
• 2-4-2025 Volkert turns 100 today. A great achievement and one that a lot of companies don’t get to celebrate.
• 2-2-2025 Uncle Ernest passed away today. Grateful that I got to see him back in January when we stopped by after seeing Olia. He made it to 89.
• 4-19-2025 Andrew asked Alana to marry him and she said yes. There will be a wedding in 2026, a graduation too for both of them. Proud of them. She’s lovely and already fits in well with our group.
• 5-12-2025 McNeil graduated with a  doctorate in Pharmacy today.
• 6-8-20205 Golden and I went to Atlanta to see the Stray Kids. I’ve never seen her more excited for a thing ever! I admit I didn’t know them before this but I’m glad she introduced me to them they put on a great show. I had to manually control her light stick cause we couldn’t sync them up but she only noticed that half way through the show
• 7-18-2025 McNeil is a fully licensed Pharmacist! I am so proud of him and how hard he works. The kid is hella smart and focused.
• 7-30-2025 – Mrs. Danley’s funeral was today (Paula’s mom). She had a brain tumor and while her battle was short it wasn’t easy. The boys took it really hard. I’m proud of them tho they both held themselves together when it counted. McNeil sang a song. They both were pallbearers. Alana even made the trip down from school for it.
• 8-15-2025 – Mom had bypass surgery today. It was scary but she did really well. Several friends came and sat with us during the surgery which was nice. I think dad really appreciated it.
• 9-1-2025 – I made it to Dragon Con ! Neil and Dad insisted that I go so I did but I thought about mom the entire time. The day I left she was moved to a room. The following day she was moved back to ICU as her oxygen kept dropping for very little reason. I couldn’t fully focus on DragonCon but we tried to do all the things. I ended up coming back early and mom was super excited to see me. So I’m glad I did that.
• 9-6-2025 – mom and dad celebrated their 55^th anniversary in a rehab room, mom’s getting stronger and that’s the best gift she can give him.
• 9-24-2025 – MOM IS HOME!!!!!
• 10-3-2025 – Andrew and Alana drove home so that we could throw a pumpkin party. I got to carve pumpkins with my favorite people and I’ve never been happier. Grateful this tradition means as much to them as it does me.
• 12-25-2025 – OLIA IS ONE!!!  Or as we say around here … Olia is ONDERFUL. Best gift we ever got.

I like the idea of the Blessing Jar … I plan to continue it into the new year …. What to do with the old ones… I want to save them some how … maybe I’ll find an envelope and drop it in the Jar too. It was fun looking back at them this year. Maybe I’ll do better this year about including more things in the Jar not just the big stuff.

Here’s to a great 2026 for everyone far and wide, I wonder what blessings it will hold. 

Marcy