I had a repeat pap for abnormal cells from the first one with HPV. The second pap produced abnormal cells again, but negative HPV so my doctor recommends another pap in a year.

Does this sound right? Just want to make sure I am doing the right thing!

I don't think that sounds right at all. I posed a question to my doctor in regards to HPV and testing positive at one time and then testing negative another time. She said that if you have already tested positive then you have it. She explained that if you test again and it comes up negative most likely at the time of the test the doctor who scraped the cervix when doing the pap did not get enough cells for the hpv test.
Now depending on what type of abnormal cells the doctor is detecting ... I don't think you should wait another year especially since it sounds like you are saying that you had a past abnormal result. You should most likely be going back in six months not one year? Now of course depending on what type of abnormalilty the doctor is detecting. If it is dsyplasia you really should be going back in six months for a re-pap or getting a colposcopy so the doctor can biopsy the abnormality.