Started 1 year ago, but more seriously last August and did a handful of projects from the ground up to learn. http://democratic.ly, http://contexium.com. I think my most interesting work is an email based knowledge base app which I haven't released. I also did 2 other email based group communication applications.

Overall I doubt I will ever be a programmer, but at least now when I think of an idea, I do not think "Who can build this? For how much?", i think "Do I like this idea enough to build a working prototype?".

And the best part about being a newbie is not knowing your limitations.