One year ago today, I wrote a little post called “Welcome to Lylium.org.”

Happy birthday, Lylium. It’s been quite a year.

… That is the sound that disturbed the slumber of many a Gutenberg student (and no doubt a few people in the southern hemisphere) last night when I, at approximately 10:30 pm, discovered that my blog was a finalist for Best Teen Weblog in the 2007 Bloggies.

A. FINALIST. FOR. BEST. TEEN. WEBLOG.

To the people who nominated Lylium.org, and the people who have already emailed me to let me know that they decided to vote for it: Thank you, friends. You have no idea how much joy it brings me to know that enough people have enjoyed this blog to get it nominated in the Bloggies. I appreciate your support more than you know.

To every single person who is reading this post: GO VOTE. And I don’t necessarily mean you have to vote for ME… I highly encourage you to check out all the other finalists, as there is apparently some serious teen talent on the net. But at the very least, vote for SOMEONE!

Good luck everyone… and thank you again for the honour.

… It wasn’t me, that’s for sure!

They say time flies when you’re having fun.

Apparently it also flies when you have so many responsibilities putting a vice grip on your skull that your eyeballs are in danger of popping out.

Of course, I’m sure that magical time when I will have magnificently fulfilled all of my responsibilities and am able to spend all my time cuddling in a cozy blanket with a warm cup of tea and surveying the wickedly-organized serenity that will characterize every aspect of my life from my sock drawer to my day planner is just around the corner, right?

RIGHT?

Ah, well. I have a vague notion that all of this is good for me, somehow. And by “all of this” I guess I mean “life,” because I honestly do not expect it to get any less hectic. But we’ll see.

As I mentioned Last year (which, by the way, makes me feel old and vaguely nauseas as I contemplate the speed with which that year has sped), snow is a big deal in Oregon.

Today (or rather, yesterday), it visited us again in such grand proportions that some friends and I were forced to abandon our studies and spend the morning building a snow fortress.

Because in Oregon you can STUDY every day; but how many days can you build a snow fortress? Eh? Eh?

That’s what I thought.

This was also the first snow I recorded with my “new” camera. You can see the photos from today here.

Let me tell you a little story.

Approximately twelve months ago, I was surfing the internet and discovered a little thing called the Bloggies—awards for noteworthy achievements in blogging over the past year. I also happened to notice that they had just introduced a brand new category for their blog awards: “Best Teen Weblog.” I read those words and a little voice inside of me said “You want to win that.”

And, so help me, I did want to.

At the time, I was already blogging, but only on a lonely little blogspot blog that almost nobody knew about. I decided it was time to get serious.

I registered my domain name. I installed Wordpress. I designed my blog’s template. This was going to be my ticket to success. I would win Best Teen Weblog next year at the Bloggies!

Of course, over the year, my blog became much more to me than an attempt at a Bloggie award. In fact, it was not long after I began writing that I forgot about that goal entirely.

Until now.

You see, it’s that time of year again. And now, right now, right this very minute, and every minute until 7pm (Pacific) Wednesday, January 10 (which is probably today by the time most of you are reading this), the Bloggies are accepting nominations.

And so, while I do not want to manipulate you or force you to do anything, if you have enjoyed reading this blog and feel it is worthy, I would heartily appreciate your nomination.

These are the categories for which Lylium.org is eligible (although certainly not necessarily worthy ):

• Best American Weblog
• Best Photography of a Weblog
• Best Teen Weblog
• Most Humorous Weblog
• Best Writing of a Weblog
• Best-designed Weblog
• Best New Weblog
• Weblog of the Year (hahahaha)

Don’t feel like you have to nominate Lylium.org for anything if you do not want to. But if you do have the urge to put in your nominations for the Bloggies, you can do that here.

Oh, and… in spite of my little “story,” I hope it is clear that neither is this blog solely an attempt to win awards, nor will I be crushed if it does not win any. And, although it would be fun to be nominated for best teen weblog, I am not silly enough to assume that mine is the best on the web. This site is a great place to start if you are looking for some other serious teen bloggers.

/Plea.

• Cockroaches.
• Cats.
• Flying Squirrels.
• Owls.
• Moths.
• Tree Frogs.
• Skunks.
• Me.

Readjusting to a school-like schedule has not been easy.

2:00 am is a perfectly reasonable time to eat dinner, don’t you think?

Why, you may ask?

Is it because I got a few new articles of clothing with my Christmas money?

Is it because I shot a wedding all by my self (successfully, I might add!)?

Is it because there lies ahead of me a crisp, brand new, fresh year?

Is it because all my friendlings are returning for school?

Well, the answer is… yes, yes, yes, and yes.

But this is why I’m REALLY excited:

That’s right… my very own pocket-size Weekly Moleskine 2007 Calendar.

I’ve had it since the beginning of November. But now I can start using it.

*SWOON *