Feasability Question before I get started...modifying a theme

Hi All!

I'm new to Drupal and really love what it's got to offer. Im a bit stuck on one thing, and before I even dive further into it, I'm wanting to know from some veteran drupalizers if what I'm going for is a tough thing to do or if I could "get it" if I hunker down a little bit.

Basically, I'm starting with deco, which I really like as a starting point. I'm wanting something pretty simple, a main content area, and 3 blocks underneath this content area:
________ ________ _______
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
|_______| |_______| |_______|

Forgive my crappy ascii drawing skills. I came across this site when searching for nice designs... http://mesa.cityofgrace.com/ and that's the goal of what I want things to look like.

Then...I can't figure out how to have a piece of content (story) get directed to a block. I've tried searching around the forums and reading up on things and screencasts from drupal dojo and such...but if someone was to say "you're in way over your head!" then I might step back from it. But if it's something that I could learn fairly quickly (I work from home so I've got time) then I'll keep on keepin' on.

Thanks all!!