On August 6, 2018, Christine unknowingly walked into Michael’s house. They had a crush on Michael’s roommate and came over with the intention of hitting on said roommate. The roommate forgot about a job interview and left Christine and Michael alone to chat for a couple hours. That is how Christine and Michael met.
Michael and Christine went to see the Mr. Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Was it a date? No one really knows. On this date(?), Christine mentioned in passing that they’ve always wanted a purple jean jacket but never have gotten one because jean jackets are so stiff.
On August 18, 2018, Christine was playing a show in Cedar Falls. They had suggested to Michael the day of the show he should come. And he did! Michael met Christine’s parents at that show.
Christine left on a month-long tour. When they arrived at the first venue in Bismarck, ND, the sound person handed Christine a small white envelope. Confused, Christine opened it to find a hand-written letter with a drawing from Michael. He sent a letter to every venue on the month-long tour and Christine received all of the letters except the last one because the show was canceled. Christine was smitten.
In every city, Christine would mail Michael a postcard with one word. Putting all of the postcards together, it formed a sentence, “Will you be my boyfriend?” Michael came to see Christine perform in St. Louis and that night, because the final postcard hadn’t yet arrived, Christine asked Michael in person. He said yes.
The next day, Michael & Christine went on official dates in St. Louis to the botanical garden and cat cafe.
When Christine returned from tour, Michael took them to meet his parents in Burlington, Iowa. It was Christine’s first time in Southern Iowa, very different compared to Northern Iowa. The great peanut butter sandwich or cinnamon roll with chili debate started.
Christine’s love language is gifts so they were super excited to see what Michael got them for Christmas. He took a mental note of the purple jean jacket on their first date(?) and made Christine a jacket. He bought a used jacket off etsy so it wouldn’t be stiff, stitched up a rip, dyed it, and sewed on some patches. Christine was blown away that Michael would do something so kind and thoughtful.
To ring in the new year in 2019, Michael and Christine traveled to Chicago and Nashville. Since Christine loves to travel, this was very important to see how well they’d travel together. After surviving a few growing pains, all was well in the travel department!
In Christine’s family, treasure hunts are a tradition. They sent Michael on one around Iowa City for Valentine’s Day 2019. It was so cold and Michael’s car almost got stuck in a snowbank. Christine hasn’t sent him on a treasure hunt since. 😅
Life is full of surprises. After a gig in Fort Wayne, IN, Christine was accidentally elbowed in the nose and got a concussion. It took them six weeks to recover.
That summer Michael got an internship in St. Louis. With Christine’s touring schedule, they made time to see each other. Michael came to visit Christine in NYC! It was so much fun.
While in St. Louis, Michael was in a car accident and broke his ankle. Christine was out east on tour and was so grateful to be reunited!
The fall of 2019 began a new tradition. Michael and Christine would go apple picking while they lived in Iowa. Delicious apple pies, galettes, and tarts were baked with all of their delicious finds at Wilson’s Orchard!
Christmas 2019 was the first year Christine and Michael attended each other’s family Christmases. Traditions were shared and fun was had by all.
Michael had planned to move to the farm for a few months while he finished his PhD but little did they know that a pandemic was about to change everything. As soon as the pandemic hit, Michael helped Christine with livestreams while he still had internet access at his house in Iowa City. Unbeknownst to Michael and Christine at the time, one of his streams was broadcast live on the radio throughout Iowa.
Life slowed down and much of their time was spent outside in the garden on the farm!
After delays due to lack of lab access, Michael finally got his PhD! The defense was on Zoom.
A couple photos of life on the farm during pandemic days.
A friend invited us to participate in her birthday scavenger hunt by sending in photos. We had so much fun taking these silly photos based on prompts. It broke up the monotony of pandemic life.
A random stop at the American Gothic house after Christine got their first covid vaccine. Unfortunately they forgot the pitchforks
In rural Iowa, every spring they burn the fields. Christine and Michael got a kick out of sending these photos to friends around the country. Everyone was confused why they were so chill while a huge fire was happening behind them. 😂
One of the coolest parts of Christine and Michael’s partnership is that they have creative ideas and both help each other make them happen. In 2021, they hosted Band-Camp for the first time on the farm. It was a blast and something they continue to do each year!
During the pandemic, Michael and Christine fell in love with taking the train. They have since taken the Amtrak across the country many times. Michael was invited to a friend’s wedding in Des Moines the night before they were supposed to leave for Seattle on the Empire Builder. If Christine and Michael hadn’t attended that wedding, they would’ve been on a train that derailed!
Since the train derailed, their trip was cancelled. They flew out to Seattle and took the train back cross country from Portland, OR.
Christine coordinated a family photoshoot after Christmas 2021. Lucy loves the camera, Zucchini not so much. If you look closely, the photo was photoshopped together. Zucchini’s tail is partially cut off. 😹
2022 was the year Christine made their most ambitious music video at The Surf Ballroom. This photo was taken after the filming was done. Michael helped Christine behind the scenes.
Without him, the filming day and shooting process wouldn’t have gone as smoothly!
Finally after a year of waiting, Christine and Michael took the Amtrak Empire Builder out to Seattle for a wedding. It was so much fun having a private sleeper car. After the wedding, they took the train to Sacramento where they rented a car to drive up to see the redwoods.
Christine’s parents moved to Iowa City. In the process, Christine would travel to Allison to help pack and go through childhood belongings. These two toys were found in the garage.
Band-Camp 2 was rainy and chilly in 2022. The crowd was a bit smaller but three kittens showed up. A joyful surprise. 3 AM Carrot rocked out!
Riding the rails again, Christine and Michael headed to New York City to celebrate the 70th birthday of Randy Moad! Christine coordinated a surprise with all the foreign exchange students.
Michael and Christine took a spontaneous weekend trip to Cleveland to pick up Christine’s vinyl records for their second album, Bittersweet. Michael loves hot dogs (vegan of course) so Happy Dog was a favorite restaurant of the trip.
After three years on the farm of applying to many jobs out east, Michael was hired by Project CETI! Having never been to Boston before, he hopped on the Amtrak with four bags and moved cross-country on March 31, 2023. The night before Christine and Michael celebrated by cooking their favorite dishes.
Christine stayed in Iowa for six more months to play summer gigs so their relationship was long distance for most of 2023. Michael came back to Iowa to host Band-Camp 3 and they got to go kayaking.
In October 2023, Christine finally joined Michael in Cambridge. On their 5 year anniversary, 10/12/23, they went to city hall and officially became domestic partners! They celebrated that weekend by going to Boston Veg Fest.
Instead of rings, Michael and Christine decided to get permanent bracelets. Michael has jokingly said that the bracelets are a bigger commitment than rings because they can’t take them off.
Michael drew the linocut print design and Christine helped him print 88 invitations! Each invitation is one of a kind. Christine addressed and wrote each invitation by hand. We can’t wait to add more memories to our partnership story with you at our celebrations this year!
