I just started about 6 months ago, having helped a buddy on two occasions with his brewing. Helping might be too strong of a characterization: I drank a lot of his beer and watched him brew his next batch. But for my first batch it was me, my faulty memory, the internet, and crossed fingers.
Anyway, my first time brewing was nerve wracking: I had the kit, the setup and dire warnings about sanitizing everything. And I had my wife and kids looking over my shoulder asking me questions about why I was doing what, and how much longer it would take until I was done. To soothe my jangling nerves I had some beer. To prime the pump, so to speak. Let's just say that my nerves were really jangly at the beginning, and really soothed at the end. Judging from the results, I did everything okay. The deck looked like a bomb had gone off in a LHBS.
Bottling that first batch was worse than brewing it! My wife was not pleased with my efforts in the kitchen. So much so that I now get up early on a weekend to bottle (ably helped by my 11 year old daughter, God bless her) so that my wife doesn't have to witness the process. Interestingly, my wife made no complaints when I announced I was going to start kegging at least some of my beer.
I did my first all grain batch last weekend - which was again nerve-wracking. But I had wised up. I did it when my wife and daughter were away, and my son was watching TV. And I didn't drink quite as much beer...