diff --git a/lib/harp-runtime/cloud/cloud_mutator.rb b/lib/harp-runtime/cloud/cloud_mutator.rb
index b876e9e..7418626 100644
--- a/lib/harp-runtime/cloud/cloud_mutator.rb
+++ b/lib/harp-runtime/cloud/cloud_mutator.rb
@@ -70,7 +70,9 @@ def create(resource_name, resource_def)
         resource.name = resource_name
         service = establish_connect(resource)
         created = resource.create(service)
-        persist_resource(resource_name, resource, created, "create")
+        pr = persist_resource(resource_name, resource, created, "create")
+        pr.state = Harp::Resources::AvailableResource::CREATED
+        return pr
       end
 
       def destroy(resource_name, resource_def)
@@ -79,11 +81,21 @@ def destroy(resource_name, resource_def)
           @@logger.error "No resource type #{resource_def['type']}"
           return
         end
+        
         resource.populate(resource_def)
+        persisted = HarpResource.entries.select{|res| res.name == resource_name}.first
+        
+        if ! persisted.nil?
+          resource.populate(persisted.attributes)
+        end
+        
         resource.name = resource_name
         service = establish_connect(resource)
+        
         destroyed = resource.destroy(service)
-        persist_resource(resource_name, resource, resource, "destroy")
+        pr = persist_resource(resource_name, resource, resource, "destroy")
+        pr.state = Harp::Resources::AvailableResource::DESTROYED
+        return pr
       end
 
       def get_output(resource, persisted)
@@ -96,13 +108,22 @@ def get_output(resource, persisted)
         output = resource.get_output(service, persisted)
       end
 
-      def get_state(resource_name)
+      def get_state(resource_name,resource_def)
         resource = Harp::Resources::AvailableResource.from_name resource_def['type']
         if resource.nil?
           @@logger.error "No resource type #{resource_def['type']}"
           return
         end
-        # TODO: fetch state of resource.
+        resource.populate(resource_def)
+        
+        persisted = HarpResource.entries.select{|res| res.name == resource_name}.first
+        if ! persisted.nil?
+          resource.populate(persisted.attributes)
+        end
+        
+        resource.name = resource_name
+        service = establish_connect(resource)
+        return resource.get_state(service)
       end
       private
           def persist_resource(resource_name, resource, live_resource, action)
diff --git a/lib/harp-runtime/resources/available_resources.rb b/lib/harp-runtime/resources/available_resources.rb
index 3f248e5..d1b3819 100644
--- a/lib/harp-runtime/resources/available_resources.rb
+++ b/lib/harp-runtime/resources/available_resources.rb
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ class << self
       @@logger = Logging.logger[self]
       @@subclasses = { }
       @@service = { }
+      
+      DESTROYED = "DESTROYED"
+      CREATED = "CREATED"
 
       def self.create type
         cs = @@subclasses[type]
@@ -72,7 +75,7 @@ def self.from_name name
       # Flesh out this resource's instance variables from supplied JSON.
       def populate resource
         resource.each { |name,value|
-          if ! ["type"].include?(name)
+          if ! ["type",:output_token,:value,:harp_script_id].include?(name)
             if self.class.aliases.include?(name)
               aliased = self.class.aliases[name]
               @@logger.debug "Setting var: #{aliased} to #{value}"
diff --git a/lib/harp-runtime/resources/compute/instance.rb b/lib/harp-runtime/resources/compute/instance.rb
index 00e3620..902af8c 100644
--- a/lib/harp-runtime/resources/compute/instance.rb
+++ b/lib/harp-runtime/resources/compute/instance.rb
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ class ComputeInstance < AvailableResource
       attribute :user_data
       attribute :virtualization_type,      :aliases => 'virtualizationType'
       attribute :vpc_id,                   :aliases => 'vpcId'
+      attribute :description
+      attribute :type
 
       register_resource :compute_instance, RESOURCES_COMPUTE
 
@@ -74,14 +76,22 @@ def create(service)
       end
 
       def destroy(service)
-        destroy_attribs = self.attribs
-        if @id
-          server = service.servers.destroy(destroy_attribs)
+        if id
+          server = service.servers.destroy(id)
         else
           puts "No ID set, cannot delete."
         end
         return server
       end
+      
+      def get_state(service)
+        if id
+          state = service.servers.get(id).state
+        else
+          puts "No ID set, cannot get state."
+        end
+        return state
+      end
 
       # Return a token to signify output from the current action
       def output_token(args={})
diff --git a/spec/compute_cloud_spec.rb b/spec/compute_cloud_spec.rb
index d83332d..4e40905 100644
--- a/spec/compute_cloud_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/compute_cloud_spec.rb
@@ -37,8 +37,10 @@
 
   it "creates a cloud instance" do
     result = mutator.create("test_inst1", instance_resource)
+    
     expect(result.class).to eq(ComputeInstance)
     expect(result.name).to eq("test_inst1")
+    expect(result.state).to eq(Harp::Resources::AvailableResource::CREATED)
   end
 
   it "creates a security group" do
@@ -48,11 +50,28 @@
 
     expect(result.description).to eq("A web security group")
   end
-
+  
   it "creates a volume" do
     result = mutator.create("test_vol1", volume_resource)
     expect(result.class).to eq(Volume)
     expect(result.name).to eq("test_vol1")
   end
+end
+
+describe Harp::Cloud::CloudMutator, "#destroy" do
+	it "destroys a cloud instance" do
+		context = {}
+    context[:cloud_type] = :aws # for the moment, assume AWS cloud
+    context[:mock] = true
+    context[:debug] = true
+    context[:access] = "test"
+    context[:secret] = "test"
+    mutator = Harp::Cloud::CloudMutator.new(context)
 
+    result = mutator.destroy("test_inst1", instance_resource)
+    
+    expect(result.class).to eq(ComputeInstance)
+    expect(result.name).to eq("test_inst1")
+    expect(result.state).to eq(Harp::Resources::AvailableResource::DESTROYED)
+  end
 end