Thanks for all the replies. I am taking all your info under consideration
I tend to do a lot of MWAC (mom with a camera) shooting of candids (our local fair was this weekend so I took 400+ photos, most just trying to capture one of my spinning, rotating or free falling kids
) so i'm not expecting greatness from these and I think I'm getting decent results. I changed a couple of my in camera settings for the weekend and shot jpeg only. I think there is a slight difference in the SOOC image so i will continue playing. I do have PSE6 so can convert the RAW photos easily but for these candid types of large quantities I am still using jpeg for simplicity.
It is mostly my artsy/portrait shots that I notice this sharpness issue. I have a manual 50mm 1.7 so I will try using that more to practice and I will do a RAW+jpeg to compare. I do pay attention to all of the things mentioned below that help in creating crisp, sharp images but also realize that practice makes perfect. I want to somewhat master the camera before investing in better glass so it is kind of a catch 22 isn't it?
Again, thanks for all the advice.