#WhyIWork Q&A: Matt & Rick

Together with Wells Fargo, we polled our Facebook and Twitter fans asking their motivations and aspirations using #WhyIWork. The responses we received gave us so many great insights into the lives of everyday LGBT families working together for a common goal.

One of those families was Matt & Rick. Married for over 5 years, this couple is looking to expand their family through independent adoption. Read Matt & Rick's story below and look for their Money Minute: Working Sessions episodes coming to Advocate.com this fall.

1. How long have you been together? Married?
We've been together for 8 years and married for 5.

2. How did you first meet? Was it love at first sight?
We met in 2007 on MySpace (before Facebook was cool). After a couple of messages back and forth, we began IM'ing and then quickly switched to talking on the phone. Matt was everything Rick was looking for: handsome, smart, romantic, funny - and Matt felt the same way about Rick - he was the perfect package and Matt swooned when we met. We fell for each other quickly and got married three years later.

3. When did you know you wanted to marry this person? Who proposed to whom and how?
When we got engaged, Rick surprised Matt with a hundred reasons to get married. Matt came home to fifty photos of our friends and family hanging on the wall, each with their own reason to get married. Then Matt met Rick at Pier 84, where Rick was waiting with fifty white balloons, each with one of Rick's reasons to get married. Then Rick proposed and we released the balloons over the Hudson River.

4. Where was your wedding? What was your approach to planning it? Who was there?
Our legal ceremony was in Greenwich CT with both of our immediate families. The following day we had a larger (non-legal) ceremony and party in New York with a larger group of friends and family.

5. When did you know you wanted to have children together? What made you decide on adoption?
We've both always wanted children and we talked about it with rah other very early in our relationship. The decision between adoption vs. surrogacy is a personal one. We have decided to pursue an independent adoption right now because of the level of control and contact with birth parents that it provides to us. We would also be open to having future children through a surrogacy.

6. What motivates you every morning to wake up and go to work?
We're motivated to work every day for lots of reasons: to pay back our educational debts; to prepare for our upcoming adoption; to provide a nice childhood and education for our children; to buy property; and to treat ourselves and our families to good memories with each other

7. What future goals do you have for you and your family?
We'd like to buy a home, finance our children's education, travel, and take care of our parents as they age.

8. What are some family activities or hobbies you two enjoy together when you're not working?
We like to do a lot of activities: travel, camp, read, cook, watch movies, go to museums and theater, and more.

9. In your #WhyIWork comment you stated, "My husband Rick Vidal and I work hard for lots of reasons: to pay back our educational debts; to prepare for our upcoming adoption; to provide a nice childhood and education for our children; to buy property; and to treat ourselves and our families to good memories with each other." Tell us more! What are some recent memories you created together?
We recently spent time in Spain for the wedding of a friend in San Sebastian, after which we traveled through wine country and visited old friends in Madrid. We also just went to LA to visit a friend that just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

10. What was your reaction to the June 26 SCOTUS ruling that led to nationwide marriage equality?
We were very excited for this epic landmark in American history. Rick was traveling for work, but Matt had the chance to go to Stonewall Inn, where the gay rights movement began, and it was beautiful to see so many people show up in that area to celebrate the victory.

11. Now that same-sex marriage is accepted nationwide, how does it feel to identify as a same-sex couple?
The ruling doesn't affect our pride or how we see ourselves. We've always been very secure in our sexualities and our relationship. We are very happy, though, for all those couples who were previously unable to marry but are now able to.