It's been some time since my last post, but I am back on track with my CCNA studies. Cisco recently made some changes to the certification exam, combining ICND1 and ICND2 into a single exam/cert that includes additional topics not in the previous one. I purchased Wendel Odom's Official Cert Guide books for the 200-301 CCNA (the new one) and I cannot give the books enough praise so far. He does an excellent job of explaining the concepts, putting them to practice, and providing helpful analogies. I've been making it a priority to spend at least two hours a day reading the book or putting things to practice on my router/switch lab.
What I have found helpful is making bullet point-style notes of any concepts or commands that I am unfamiliar with in a Word document I have up. I do this chapter-by-chapter as I go through the book. I also take advantage of the chapter questions and use a program called Flashcard Hero to retype any questions/answers in the book that I got incorrect. This is by the far the most confident I have felt studying for the CCNA to date and is a study recipe that I highly recommend. My goal is take and pass the CCNA this year.
