Blogger Template Help, Please

So, I hate to admit it, but I'm having a bit of trouble implementing a template I built for blogger. It seems to be pretty difficult to implement a design other than one that's available in the free ready-made templates out there. I'm going to post my design I did and see if I have anybody that can offer some advice. I've read a number of posts online and I'm still hacking away at it. But the actual XML file doesn't seem to be as customizable as I'd like. So frustrating - and this is coming from a web developer!