Pawn moves change the character of the position, and should therefore be made with care. Your initial moves of c3/f3 are not to be recommended for this reason. The f-pawn in particular creates a gaping hole when moved at this stage of the game. Some opening sequences involve moving the f-pawn, but they're in the minority.
I think you're also working from the wrong kind of premise: having been beaten up as white, you think you should adopt a defensive stance. You can certainly choose to play conservatively as white; but yours is the advantage of the first move, a tangible advantage that has been documented by decades (centuries!) of game results, and should not be tossed away lightly. If you have lost as white, I think there are probably other reasons--poor tactical sight, incorrect strategic evaluation, what have you--and this should be where you place your focus. Without a game score, however, it's hard to see where exactly you may have gone wrong.
Moreover, to hearken back to my first point, you may want to consider other ways of holding back black's march into the center. Placing your knights on f3 and c3 would accomplish the same thing as you do with your pawn moves, without creating weaknesses. And what if black replies to your 1 f3 or 1 c3 with 1...e5 or 1...d5--as I would, almost without hesitation? You cannot found your game on the notion of "holding your opponent back." The enemy is over there. Engage him. Squeeze him. Constrict him. But do not surrender the center unfought, do not allow him to build a structure without molesting him, do not just lie back and think of England.
That's my two pawns' worth of random thoughts, anyway.
*Diagram is not of this game, but of usual opening I use with a brief description of why I play it.
My overall game is, short of a better term, weak.
I have an odd opening for white that begins defensive and my opening is somewhat strong for that.
However, I notice I get weaker when the board begins to clear up towards the end game.
Here I played White. My opening is my basic defense from the opening knights. They used to sweep my side before I began to focus a counter on them.
Nudging the end of the opening, I took an offensive stance using the Queen and Bishop. Started off with a horrific trade hoping that the payoff would somehow equalize.
From there, I just had one bad trade after the next. Any advice to strengthen my game? I know how to move the pieces. I know how to defend them. I can fork and expose. So the problem is not the technique, it's is my abhorrent execution... But please, constructive criticism. don't bring me to tears, yeah? I still want to play this game, but I don't want to suck.