I can't believe it's December already. The wedding is half a year away, and I feel like I've gotten NO planning done so far. I was just so caught up and busy with trying to buy a house that all the wedding planning was put on hiatus... but now that we've settled in, I really need to buckle down and get things done.

My first step is really to book my reception venue. I've looked and called dozens of places, and ideally, I want a venue that would allow outside catering (Andrew said he would get Wild Ginger to cater for us), but it's so hard to find a place that would let us do that. I'm disappointed, but I think I'm okay with it, as long as the reception site is beautiful.

I've narrowed it down to a couple of places - Gaylord Opryland Hotel, and Cheekwood. But who knows, I might change my mind if I see something else.

My mom dropped the bomb on me yesterday that she was quitting her job and moving back to Taiwan to take care of my grandmother in February. I know I'm just being selfish when I want her to be here to help me plan, but I thought all of this wedding planning stuff was supposed to be some big bonding experience that every daughter is supposed to have with their mother. It's frustrating and not to mention, really disheartening knowing that she won't be here to help me plan any of it. I feel like I have even less desire to do a lot of this knowing she won't be around, and I feel overwhelmed with all the stuff there is left to do.

I know once I book the venue and the photographer, everything else will slowly fall into place. It's just the steps getting there that's hard...