Insurance problem? We can help

We're the state agency that regulates insurance in Washington state. If you're a Washingtonian, we're happy to help answer insurance questions and help try to solve problems with insurers/agents/etc.

What can you expect? If you file a complaint, for example, we will:

■ Contact the insurance company regarding your concerns, review their response, and share the results of our review with you.


■ Research and complete your complaint within 60 days.

■ Suggest steps you might take to resolve your issue.

■ Make your complaint a part of the company's public record.

■ Require the company to address your concerns and follow Washington state insurance laws and regulations.

And we get results. We get millions of dollars a year in delayed or denied claims paid to Washington consumers.

For a complete list of our customer service standards -- as well as links to easily file a complaint online -- please see our complaint help web page. You can also call our Insurance Consumer Hotline toll-free at 1-800-562-6900.

We'll try our best to help.

Little Miss Munchkin's Big Girl Cake

Sweet baby Munch turns 1 in about a month {oh the tears}, so I am currently thinking about what cake she should have at her big bash. I want to make it, so I can't get all fondant fancy as I haven't the faintest clue how to do that. Even so, I LOVE this sort of look and design - girly but not too little girly or over-the-top. Quite sophisticated, actually, just like the Little Miss! 

Which is your favorite? Do you have any other ideas along these lines? And while we're on the topic, who do you think is the most talented baker in the DFW area?

Happy Monday!

It is raining and 35* here...oh what I would give to be lounging around in that bed! 

We had an awesome weekend with friends down at the ranch, hardly any cell or internet {it was actually amazing} lots of adventures on four-wheelers and horses, and I am still full from all the Mud Pie we ate. No complaints here! How was your weekend?

Winter...in Beer-Sheva? by blogger of the month Julia Rubin-Smith

A few intrepid MSIH-ers and their contraband cart.

Well, winter is officially here. I had been warned that Be’er-Sheva gets cold sometime around the end of November, but I was convinced that was not possible. I mean, I’m a New Englander! How cold can it possibly get?? The answer is…ok, not that cold. It’s still frequently in the 70s during the day, and probably doesn’t get lower than the mid-40s at night, but I’ve been so spoiled by four straight months of sun and blue skies that we might as well be in the depths of a Boston winter. A word of advice to next year’s entering class: don’t be cocky like me; bring more than two sweaters!

Just a small portion of the amazing
food at Friendsgiving 2011

Anyway, enough about the weather, though I could probably talk about it all day (see above re: I’m a New Englander). As Ross, last month’s blogger, mentioned, exams are here, which has turned many of us into sweatpants-wearing hermits. Luckily, we still know how to have a little fun! Last week, as most of you know, was American Thanksgiving. We had a microbiology exam (and a full day of classes) on the actual day, so we decided to hold a “Thanksgiving Day observed” dinner (aka Friendsgiving) on Friday. Four of our classmates generously hosted this dinner in their apartment, and everyone brought a dish or two to share. There were some challenges with the cooking (the turkey unexpectedly came with feathers, which required some serious plucking, many of the ovens don’t have actual temperature settings aside from “low” and “high,” and my elementary Hebrew led me to accidentally buy the wrong kind of flour for pie), but that just makes it more fun! We had a great turnout, including a few students from other years and various Israeli friends. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, so this dinner had some big shoes to fill: luckily, the food was amazing, the company was fantastic, and a good time was had by all. If you can’t celebrate Thanksgiving with your family, spending it with your MSIH second family ain’t half bad!

Oh, and one more little adventure to relate before I sign off for the week: the night before our big Thanksgiving dinner, a few of us headed over to the Big Plaza to buy some fixin’s. We ended up with far too much stuff to carry home, and somehow decided that instead of taking a cab, it would be a good idea to “borrow” a shopping cart and walk it home, homeless-person style. We got some odd looks as we carted our goods across B7 in a shopping cart, but it sure was fun! (Bonus: we used the cart the next day to truck all our cooked food to the party – it even came up the elevator with us!) If any Eden employees or law enforcement-types are reading this, I promise we are going to return the cart…- December blogger of the month, Julia Rubin-Smith