It felt like i was drowning.

I applaud your attempts to give your pieces activity. However well or poorly you played overall, you realized your pieces needed activity and strived to give it to them. 

What was the point behind 12.c4?

i agree with Yereslov, before 12. c4? I would say that black has a definate advantage. Play down the b file and with the strong dark squared bishop should be enough to win the game. After c4 you have provoked him to block your bishop with d4, and instead of something like where white plays d4 first, followed by cxd4 cxd4, you have less activity and no pressure against d4, and the c file is not opened (you are stronger on the queenside, so the more it opens the better your pieces will become).

You might be following the principle that your pawns belong on the opposite color of your bishop, but in this case the principle is wrong as the pawns work with the bishop to control dark squares and prevent white's blockade. Notice that your pawns do not block the bishop either.

Even at move 16 you probably aren't worse though, you just have to use the b file, prevent f5, and find the right time to counter with f6. You've traded your bad bishop, so this french defense structure cannot be too terrible, white should have difficulty creating an attack.

Maybe f5 instead of f6 is fine too, or f5 instead of fxe5 (which seems like it might be a major mistake, opening the f file for your opponent). I would also castle before f6.

Once you hang your g6 pawn it's over, you probably have to take on h5 and try to hold on.

It looks pretty grim to me.

Do you really think after 16. f5 white could win at a 1500 level of play, or even keep any advantage? Black does have a fair amount of queenside counterplay, and white's attack takes a long time if he doesn't play exf6 (which I'm sure he wouldn't have)

I don't honestly know what that question is intended to convey.  But if you're asking me if White is considerably better, then I think the answer is yes. 

Unlike OP, I normally excel in these closed positions! 

What I don't get is why white captured with the king instead of using the knight or queen. 

I'm pretty sure that after 16... f5 black can't be worse. Checking with houdini, it gives equality (although I wouldn't trust it in this closed position), while it gives 16...Qa5 as -0.32, for example Ne2 0-0 Rf1 Rab8 etc when black has queenside play.

I wouldn't trust it either.  But I don't really want to have a discussion with somebody who's plugged into some machine (it's like trying to carry on a conversation through a receptionist or something).

1st off congrats on your win. I think if I were white I would have taken your bishop on g4 on move 8. If you recapture with your knight then queen takes knight ? Am I missing something. Also I think as already pointed out taking the bishop with the king IMO was inaccurate. I think I would have used my queen to retake. Regardless he could have avoided it all together by taking that bishop on his previous move ?

Thanks for posting your game, and good luck on your future games.

I wasn't plugged into houdini when I first said black was equal, I just checked it when you said white was better to see what it thought. I just don't feel like white can get that much in a french structure where the kingside is closed and black has a pawn on f5, unless he has something concrete.

Kxe2 might've been mouse-related.

Especially not when black has pressure against c3 and seems to be up in development, with his bad bishop traded.

Perhaps you are right (I'm not big on the French).  But White's bishop isn't really bad (it has a nice diagonal available on a3).  And White would also have the option of taking ep.