Well, I can't remember precisely when I started my serious weight training but it's going swimmingly! The really cool thing is that when you begin a total weakling starting out it's amazingly easy to gain muscle.
Right now I don't have any free weights/plates; I'm using a combination of my old Total Gym and body weight exercises. I do Hindu Squats, pushups and planking just with my own weight. Then I do curls, chinups, etc on my machine. It's amazing how much stronger I've gotten in the last few months! Again, those initial gains are so easy because your muscles aren't used to working hard. I figure I'll plateau in a couple months but that's actually a good problem to have!
My next step is going to be getting a squat rack/power tower and a new barbell/weights set. Probably I can get by with 200 lbs for a while but 300# would mean less swapping plate. A rack would also be good for being able to bench press free weight w/o a spotter (I can't always get a spotter since I like to work out in the evening after work).
To anyone out there just getting started or even just consider a work out regimen I would highly recommend you look into the books of Charles Staley. I got his book 'Muscle Logic: Escalating Density Training' used from Amazon.com for about five bucks shipped- it's awesome! Staley is a trainer that's trained a lot of pro, collegiate and even Olympic athletes.
At any rate, one element of his philosophy is more sets of less reps. For example, say you do a max of 10 pushups. If you try to do sets of ten you're gonna be wiped out before you reach your tenth. Somewhere between 7 and 8 it will really start to hurt. You may start to feel really bad about being "weak" and able to do so few. The difficulty may discourage you. But now imagine you do sets of two pushups! The first set will be very easy. The next two won't be that bad either. Five sets of two is still 10, just like doing 'em in one big set. But you won't have the pain, and you'll probably be able to do twelve or even fourteen this way.
Staley is a big advocate of the "3-5 Principle", especially for beginners. You work out 3 to 5 times per week, doing 3-5 different exercises, with 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps. This is very effective! As you get stronger you can up the weights, do a few more sets, or add a couple more reps.
Lastly he's a big booster of moderation. If you throw yourself in to the workout like a kamikazee you'll likely either 1) burn yourself out or 2) injure yourself. He says that contrary to the old saying "no pain no gain" pain is a bad thing. It means you're doing something wrong. Sure, he says, there's a little burn while you're actually doing a lift. But you shouldn't be in pain for days.
Slow and steady wins the race! To get started, just GET STARTED! You don't need a lot of equipment or time. In fact, he competes and still only trains about 45 minutes a day three or four days per weeks.