Three Year Blogiversary and #Giveaway

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Three years ago today I set up this blog. It's changed a great deal since then, as have I. It originally started as just a meas to type out and share old stories I wrote growing up for my friends. Little did I know it would ignite my passion for writing and start me down a career path that not only brings me great joy, but has saved our little family on several occasions.
I've learned so much along the way. When a sister of a friend, who is also a friend of a friend and knew my husband growing up but I didn't meet her until this point, stumbled across my blog, she pointed me down the writer's path. I feel like I owe a great deal to Darci Cole, because if she hadn't introduced me to other bloggers and eventually twitter, I definitely wouldn't be where I am.
Through her, I started following Cassie Mae's blog, and soon after, she posted about GUTGAA.
The rest all kind of went from there.
To celebrate, I'm going to giveaway a paperback copy of any of my books of your choice (note: Branded won't be available in paperback until Nov) All you need to do is leave a comment showing me how much your writing has developed and grown since you first started out by using excepts from an early work and a recent one. I will then use random.org to pick a winner. But, your comment must be legit or I won't include it ;-)
For fun, I will post an excerpt of my first story I posted on here, and then put an excerpt of the same story, rewritten after I started publishing. It's the same scene, pretty much, when the MC meets her brother's best friend who takes an instant fancy to her. It amazes me the difference, and it's so fun to see how much I've learned and grown. Maybe when I get down on my writing, I should pull out old manuscripts and give them a look over. Maybe you should too!

Original -

The young man who had spoken took my hand and bowed. He was hansom enough, dark eyes, near black hair and by the tan of his skin I could tell he was a farmer.
"Would the Lady Alana mind if I were to call on her?" He inquired of me.
I looked at him surprised and was about to say 'Yes, she would mind, she has no desire to marry yet' but James stopped me, "No, she wouldn't mind at all, but right now we must meet our father"
"Then I shall call in on you in due time. At the cottage I presume?"
"No," Martin spoke up "We are going back to the farm today"
"Is that so?" the young man smiled at Martin, then returned his gaze back to me "Then I shall write, for I too must return to my own farm in two days so I will send correspondence"
James then gave him our farm's name and we parted. I refused to talk to him after that, but he didn't seem to mind.

Rewritten (Name changes that are more period and culturally accurate, and that overlap with stories I've written.)

The five young men approached, all examining me. I hated that. Being young, and part of a well-to-do family, I definitely had more appeal than at least two thirds of the other women around. 

“Adele,” Edmund said, gesturing at the young men. “I’d like you to meet my friends. We play rugby together.” 

They all bowed, offering me their names. 

“May we take a turn in the gardens?” Edmund asked. 

I squeezed his arm, trying to tell him no, but he ignored me. 

“Oh, yes,” one, who had introduced himself as Thomas, said. “It would be lovely to take a break to make your sister’s acquaintance.”I took a deep breath, counting to five as I tried not to roll my eyes.As we walked, the other four men slowly departed to return to their duties, but Thomas remained, strolling alongside Edmund. I watched him as he and Edmund conversed, laughing every now and then, realizing Edmund had mentioned him on occasion, calling Thomas his closest friend. No wonder he wanted me to marry him.“So tell me, Miss Escott,” Thomas said, leaning forward to see me. “Are you truly the prankster Edmund claims you to be?”“Edmund claims many things,” I replied, looking ahead to avoid admiring his pleasant features. “Doesn’t mean they are true. He is a fine storyteller.”Edmund grinned. “I have such a great source for my stories. Come, Adele, you have so many good tales to tell.”Yes, enough to hopefully scare off this Thomas. I slapped on a smile, and turned up my gaze to meet Thomas’ light brown eyes. “My father tried to have me attend a finishing school once. The problem was, the matron was cruel. So, I caught a blue tongue lizard and slipped it between her sheets.”Edmund laughed. “The wench thought it was a snake!”I elbowed him, grinning. “This is my story, you weren’t there.”“Sorry.”“Anyway, the screaming woke the whole household. Everyone went into a mad frenzy, while I rolled laughing. She knew right away I was to blame, so had me take it away, and promptly sent me packing in the morning.”“Pa wasn’t impressed,” Edmund said, a playful smile curling his lips.“No.” I shook my head. “But it doesn’t matter. I’m going to be an explorer, like Blaxland, Lawson, and Wentworth. An explorer doesn’t need finishing school.”Edmund nudged me, clearing his throat.“An explorer?” Thomas nodded, his arms behind his back. “That’s a dangerous path.”“Danger isn’t—”Edmund elbowed me sharply in the ribs.I glared at him.He shook his head.
“There is still much land to be explored,” Thomas said, apparently oblivious to our exchange. “And with new advances coming out of England and America all the time, we will be flying soon.”I stared at him, wondering if he was teasing me, but found him gazing into the sky, his eyes bright as he smiled.Edmund nudged me again, winking.I cleared my throat. “Don’t we need to be somewhere?”Edmund looked toward the docks, shielding his eyes. “No, the ship has barely docked. We have some time yet.”“We don’t have that long. We should really be going.”Edmund turned his focus to Thomas. “Pa has arranged something special for Adele. It seems she is eager to find out what it is.”“Yes.” I tugged at Edmund’s arm. “Now, can we go?”“I will walk with you,” Thomas said.“What an excellent idea. Don’t you agree, Adele?” Edmund turned his head so Thomas wouldn’t see his smirk and raised eyebrow.Really subtle, Eddie. “Oh yes, excellent.”
As we turned to head back, Thomas slipped around behind us and strolled next to me. I shuffled closer to Edmund, not wanting to give Thomas ideas.