By Alan Johnson

Copyright birminghammail

A married couple from Texas have shared their thoughts on Birmingham after “giving up everything” back home to make the move to the second city. Madison Parker, her husband Brett Patzke and their German Shepherd, Coda, flew to the UK in July along with their belongings in seven suitcases to make their new start . “We sold everything else and moved across the water,” Madison explained in a TikTok video. “Neither one of us had ever been to England before, but after receiving some incredible job offers for our dream jobs, we just couldn’t turn down the adventure.” After a “really hard” first month, the pair appear to be settled in their new surroundings . Madison admitted it was “really scary” leaving her parents and the family’s horse behind as well as “everything she had ever known”, but now she’s enjoying life working for Birmingham City Football Club as a Partnership Activations Manager. Sharing footage from match at St. Andrews, she continued: “But after living here for around two months, I finally feel like I am really enjoying it.” Whilst Madison acknowledged her goal isn’t to “go viral” or “become the next big influencer”, she said her hope is to show “how amazing it is” to embark on a new challenge and do something “totally unexpected and with a person she loves”. Responding to questions from Birmingham residents, meanwhile, Madison added: “We live right in the city right now but we are thinking of moving to a smaller surrounding town once our lease is up.” Madison’s husband Brett, meanwhile, has also joined the football industry. He left his role at FC Dallas to become a photographer for The Blues’ West Midlands rivals, Wolverhampton Wanderers. He said of the move on LinkedIn at the time: “I’m incredibly honoured to step into the role of Club Photographer for the Wolves . This is a dream opportunity, and the fact that it’s now a reality still feels surreal. “Madison is also returning to the sports world and will be working with Birmingham City FC . We couldn’t be more excited for this next chapter. Thank you to everyone who continues to support us.” On Sunday (September 14), Madison shared a follow-up video explaining what she has learned since arriving in Birmingham. “There are some things I love and some things I don’t love from being a Texas girl all my life,” she confessed. “First and foremost… the weather – seriously I can’t figure it out. One minute here it’s sunny and beautiful, and the next it’s raining… and I mean pouring rain.” When it comes to shopping, meanwhile, Madison said M&S is “everything” to her. “I love it, but some people I work with tell me I am crazy to get all my groceries from there. I could spend hours there.” As for food quality, Madison claimed it is “so much better” in Birmingham than Texas. “Things do go bad a lot, but that’s because they don’t use as many preservatives here… especially in fruit. The fruit here is phenomenal, but it’s mouldy in two days.” Madison also said she finds the people here “so lovely.” She elaborated: “Everyone here has been super nice. Whenever I start talking, people are like, ‘oh my gosh where are you from?’ and then I tell them and they ask a million questions, but everyone has been incredibly nice.” The Texan closed by expressing her admiration for the city’s clothes shopping options. “There are so many great in places in Birmingham, she said. Especially in the Bull Ring there are so many clothing stores, it’s amazing. But for home stuff and kitchen stuff I am having a hard time.” Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp , click the link to join.