It's easy with any new hobby (especially this one) to get discouraged rather quickly. You won't necessarily notice your improvement from day to day or week to week (although it does happen). I think it's similar to watching your weight everyday on a scale. You can go a bunch of days with no change, or even an increase here and there - so you feel that your not progressing - makes it easy to give up. However, ignore the scale for a month or two and then hop on (after doing the right things, of course!) and voila - you've made some pretty nice improvements!

Photography is very similar, it's easy to get discouraged from day to day as you don't see any improvement - check out these tips and you should feel differently!

Every couple of months or so, go back into your archives and take a look at some of your older work, even if its only been a few months - I'm betting you'll be stunned with the improvements you see!
Join a site such as ShutterCal and post your photos as you progress throughout the year. I've recently gone back and looked at some Eagle shots I took at the beginning on January and compared them to my most recent captures. I was amazed at how "bad" the early ones looked!! Resist the urge to delete and replace them though - it's your visual record or your progress. They weren't "bad" photos (in fact I was pretty proud of them just two months ago) - they're just a good record of your skill level at the time - so learn from them!