How We Met: Burlington County Couple Enjoys Adventure In The Everyday

PEMBERTON, NJ — Consistent communication and having fun together have been relationship keys for local couple Kayla and George McCoy, who live in Pemberton with their infant son George III.

They were opposite personalities at Howell High School, where they met as sophomores in 2010 – George was a multi-sport athlete and volunteer, and Kayla, whose maiden name is Anochin, “just wanted to go to school and go home, get it over with.”

As Kayla tells it, a teacher moved the too-talkative George from the back of the classroom and sat him next to her in the front. George thought Kayla was beautiful, he said, and he wanted to talk, but she wasn’t interested (yet). They both remember that he complimented the dress she was wearing.

“Oh my God, I’m never wearing this dress again,” Kayla remembers thinking.

“She pretty much ignored me,” George said of this attempt to flirt.

Next year, George sat behind her in another class. He still wanted to talk, and asked for her number. Kayla gave it to him, she says, and the “last period of class, he started texting me, and never left me alone since.”

She laughs at that, as Kayla goes on to say how George’s desire to be a presence in her life and pull her out of her shell was a positive thing. George also gives some credit to his own “smooth words.”

“He’s always there, which is very good,” Kayla said. “He’s always there for the good stuff, he’s always there for the bad stuff.”

“We’re always each other’s go-to,” she added.

The relationship had rough patches when they were younger, which can be the case when you’re growing up along with your partner. Kayla and George said they broke up for a short time between junior and senior year, but realized they did not want to be apart.

“I liked how things worked, and how we worked together,” Kayla said.

As they have matured, the couple says, they’ve navigated rough waters like job loss and seen one another grow as a person through their twenties. They’ll both turn 30 this year.

“It’s almost like swimming into the tide,” Kayla said. “You’re swimming out all those years. And now we have our baby, we have a house and now we just get to relax.”

“I think what keeps our love so strong is that we just click,” said George. “Seeing how we grow individually and as a couple, we just fit together more and more as time goes on. I wouldn’t change it for the world; I love her more than anything.”

Kayla says communication is key in their relationship, even when it might cause confrontation. And no matter what, they never go to bed upset with one another.

“It’s so cliché, I’ve heard a million people say it, but never going to bed mad is our biggest thing,” she said. “And it’s not something we’ve always talked about, but it’s something we’ve always done.”

They’ve been married since 2019, and lived in Toms River for a time before deciding to move somewhere new, and bought a house in Pemberton. From being teens with limited money to parents with their own house, George and Kayla always tried to find excitement wherever they are.

“Whether it was just going for a drive to a town we’ve never been, or taking her hunting, or going on a little vacation to her grandfather’s cabin in Pennsylvania, we always kept busy and made sure we were having fun,” George said.

Making adventure out of the everyday, whether packing a sack lunch and going fishing, taking a drive somewhere new, or digging out of a snowstorm and making a coffee run, is something they’ve done since high school. Now with a house and a kid of their own, Kayla and George are excited for their future as a growing family.

“I’m looking forward to continuing our little spontaneous trips with our little baby boy in the future and making memories with my absolute perfect family,” George said.

Kayla said she’s excited to see her husband be a dad to their son, whom they call Georgie.

“I can’t wait to see him get into motorcycles with him, and get in to hunting and fishing with him,” she said.