MONMOUTH – Joe Moore laughed out loud when comparing his marriage to what’s going in Maine education.

“We’re a great example of consolidation,” he joked.

He, 54, is principal of Mt. Blue High School in Farmington. She, Christine Chamberlain, 55, is principal of Hall-Dale Elementary in Hallowell.

When they married four years ago, she was principal at Wales Central School. He was principal at Sabattus Elementary.

Then divorced with two children each, they started dating in 1999 when both served on the School Union’s 44 administrative team.

“My first impression I thought she was beautiful, very smart and very kind,” Joe said. A hockey fan who lived in Lewiston, he asked her out to a game. He remembers working up the nerve. “I hadn’t been out there, dating. I picked up the phone a couple of times and put it back down.”

Christine, who lived in Monmouth’s countryside, said yes. She thought the game would be fun. “I had no romance on my radar at all.”

He did. He continued to ask her on dates “and kept hanging around,” he said. “Romance happened rather quickly.” He fell in love with her in a couple of weeks. It took a few months for her.

“Part of my hesitation was he was so extroverted. I’m so introverted,” she said. They had fun when they went out, “but how can this ever be serious? We found out it can be.”

After dating for four years they decided to marry. When they married all four of their children were in college in their 20s. They tried to arrange a wedding with all four there, but conflicting schedules made that impossible.

They decided to run off to their favorite spot, Bar Harbor, and have a quick, informal wedding.

“I made arrangements with a justice of the peace to meet us at the gazebo,” he said. But he didn’t count on all the cruise ships docking and a swelling, downtown crowd. The justice of the peace was late. And they had no legal witnesses.

They saw a young couple in the gazebo and asked the man and woman, who they didn’t know, to stand in for them.

The couple agreed. “They were delightful,” she said. Joe and Chris recited vows they wrote with the ocean as a backdrop. “We turned around and they were crying,” she said.

It’s not common in Maine for principals to marry. Both said the arrangement works well. They love the job of being principal, saying it allows them to work with students and teachers and make a difference. Their home conversations show understanding of each other’s issues, the evening meetings, the hectic schedules, she said.

“What I value with Chris is having built-in staff development,” he said. “When I have an idea I need to bounce off someone, I depend on Chris to listen and give me some feedback.”

Since becoming a couple, he moved to her rural Monmouth.

He’s introduced her to ice hockey, the in’s and out’s of the Red Sox.

She introduced him to the outdoors. They kayak, climb mountains (Katahdin and Washington), downhill and cross country ski.

Living with him “the depth of our love for one another continues to amaze us,” Christine said. “We respect one another. We love doing some of the same things, yet we bring differences.” One thing she said she most admires about him “is his passion about doing what’s right for students, and being fair and being honest.”

Living with her “I have my soulmate,” he said. “I’ve never loved anyone so deeply, and I’ve never felt loved so deeply.”