Started playing around on Google SketchUp.  I began working through a few of the video tutorials Google provides on their website.  This program fast, efficient and very fun to use!  I can definitely see the benefits to using this program over more comprehensive ones like CAD and Revit.  This model generation program is great to show ideas to clients in a way that is easy for them to understand and will only take a short amount of time for a designer to create.  The Google Warehouse is amazing and makes modeling a breeze.  This will be the perfect program to use for smaller projects and I look forward to using it as I begin to re-design my parents' home basement.
 
I have begun working through the Autodesk Revit BIM Lectures and Student Workbook.  Thus far, the readings and exercises have been very helpful in understanding the differences between CAD and Revit along with explaining some of the basic commands found in Revit.  I just completed Unit 1 where I created a small one-story house (see screenshot below).  So far, using Revit has been a lot of fun and I enjoy how easily all of the elements come together.  Definitely a breath of fresh air from CAD!