I did add a Mod ID to the main class (if that's the same thing as a "mod annotation"). It looks something like this:
@Mod("lca")
As for setting up my workspace, I downloaded the latest java8 download, created a new PATH variable to the JDK, I then downloaded IntelliJ Community Edition, And a forge 1.18.2 MDK. I then opened the MDK in the IDE and changed only what was necessary for the mod to run (the mod ID in the main class + what was marked as mandatory in the mods.toml file). Next via command prompt, I generated the "runs" to run my mod in the IDE. Finally, I selected "Run Client" in the Run/Debug Configurations.
One thing you might want to note, and I don't know if this has anything to do with my current issue, was that the first time I had tried to run the mod in the IDE, I got a different error message that read the following:
Unrecognized option: -p
Error: Could not create the Java Virtual Machine.
Error: A fatal exception has occurred. Program will exit.
I managed to fix this error by going into the Run/Debug Configurations and deleting a line of code that said only "-p" under the "Build and Run" Section.