changing stuff in textarea? Options

[miszxjojo]

i know how to get the code to change the font in a textarea box. like i want it with a border, and a different font so i put in the code. but when i do, my page gets messed up and my extened background thing (idk what it's called? but its this: http://i40.tinypic.com/xp3pd1.png) and my header image, doesn't line up right. but when i deleted the code i added and changed it back to what it was, everythings fine...

the code i have now is:
textarea, input {
width : 140px;
}

the one i used is:
textarea {font-family:tahoma;
font-size: 8px;
line-height: 9px;
font-weight: normal;
text-transform: none;
text-align: center;
color: 000000;
width: 140px;
height: 30px;
background-color: ffffff;
border: 1px dotted;
border-color: 000000;}