Good for you Mike. Some tips to offer, don't worry about "a couple of years of hard practice"... practice when you can, try to get to the guitar every day if possible. Short stints of focused, concentrated practice throughout the day can give you better results than long, single sessions. Keep it easy too.. one of the best pieces of advice that was passed on to me was when practicing, go at a slow enough speed so that you hardly ever make a mistake. Remember you're building physical "muscle" memory, so getting it right is far more important than playing it fast, and keep it fun! Also, try to make music every day with your guitar just with what you know. There are tons of songs out there that are based on very simple 1 and 2 string riffs, so take time out to just mess around with the guitar, coming up with your own ideas based on what you've learned so far. You'll get there, & before you know it you'll be playing better than you thought you'd be able to. Lisa McCormick's finger picking lessons are a great place to start out, and having you playing some stuff that sounds more complicated than it is to play.

Good Luck!