Hi and welcome.
You will get more response if you follow the forum rules. In particular a limit of four images per post and place a MEANINGFUL location in your profile. The latter in particular could help you enormously. It is not unknown for members to lend others nearby gear for appraisal or just to help out. Turning up at meets also helps in this regard. There is usually a fair amount of gear comparison going on.
Your budget of $1000 and the desire for "better" photos point you to prime lenses (fixed focal length). I do not belong to the canon school, but a quick squizz at the net has me suggesting a 28mm f/1.8 Canon, or possibly a Samyang 85mm f/1.4 See this post for some info on the latter:
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=41340. If you didn't already have the 50mm f/1.8, I would suggest the 50mm f/1.4
That said, it is the photographer that makes the image, not the gear. Learn to use what you have. And learn to compose in camera. You clearly are more interested in Post Processing, but getting it close to right before you get to the computer will save you heaps of time. In particular learn what White Balance can do for you. YOu can use it either for greater realism, or greater creativity.
I quite like your work. Please post some more. For critique perhaps.