Taking a look back at 2012, it's been a pretty big year for 'Murica and the rest of the world. Just to recap a few things, we saw athletic greatness in the Olympics, made our voices heard in the presidential election, challenged human limits with the Red Bull Stratos… and saw the extreme misuse of the hashtag; #sooverit, #hashtagcasserole, #cheesy…   

I hope whoever is reading this also had a big year and that you accomplished the goals you set for yourself whether it was learning how to chug a beer in under 5 seconds, finally growing out a beard Brian Wilson would be proud of, or something grownup and boring like changing careers or getting out of debt. One of my biggest achievements was avoiding death in a horrible Mayan-predicted Armageddon or zombie apocalypse, so yay for me! And yay for you too as it looks like we get to ring in another year filled with untold adventure and possibilities abound just around the river bend! Did I just reference a pro baseball pitcher and Disney movie in the same paragraph? Hmm…

Anyway, it's been a while and you might be asking yourself why should I take tips from Nena's Tip Jar when she seldom writes for this blog anymore? And to that I would say, touché. However, instead of giving tips on having fresh breath for a New Year’s Eve kiss or what color panties to wear, I just want to end this year with a list of hopes that I have for each and every one of you. Whether I claim you as a friend, have drunkenly met you at a bar, or you're a distant relative of Abraham Lincoln, I wish you all the best in 2013.

• I hope you tell the ones you love that you do, because even though the world didn't end, each one of us is not guaranteed a tomorrow.
• I hope you look at 2013 as a new beginning to start fresh and become the change that you wish to see in the world.
• I hope you have more personal real-life interactions than tweets, connect more with people in person than online, and see the beauty that surrounds you every day and not just through the filtered lens of Instagram.
• I hope you seize opportunities when they arise and aren't afraid to step out of the box and take chances on the unknown.
• Finally, I hope you sing like no one's listening and dance like no one is watching… unless you're doing the Gangnam Style dance. Seriously. Stop. The only person who should be allowed to do that dance is PSY himself as he dances his happy, K-pop singing butt to the bank after all the money he's made from that little ditty.

And if you didn't like this blog post, in 2013, I hope you step on a Lego... barefoot.  

Here's to a better year than the last! Cheers!

Nena